CM's absence from Tipu Jayanti celebrations is an insult to Muslim community: Congress MLA
Bengaluru, Nov 10: With the Karnataka chief minister and his deputy skipping the Tipu Jayanthi celebrations, a Congress legislator Saturday termed it as an insult to the Muslim community.
"This was the first Tipu Jayanthi of the new government. The information is that following doctor's advice chief minister H D Kumaraswamy is not taking part (in the programmes). Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara is on a foreign tour. This development has somewhere come across as though the community has been insulted. There is no doubt about it," MLA and former minister Tanveer Sait said.
According to party sources, several Congress leaders, especially those from the Muslim community, are miffed with the chief minister and deputy chief minister for giving the event a miss.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Sait said politics and party notwithstanding it was his duty to express the sentiments of his community.
He requested the chief minister to at least attend a Tipu Jayanthi event at a place near to where he was taking rest.
"I request the chief minister to try and attend the programme at H D Kote that is near to the place where he is taking his break," he added.
Protests by BJP and right wing outfits and the absence of Kumaraswamy and Parameshwara marked Tipu Jayanthi celebrations in Karnataka, which marks the birth anniversary of 18th-century ruler Tipu Sultan.
The previous Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, began celebrating Tipu Jayanthi on November 10 every year since 2015, amid stiff opposition from the BJP, several Hindu organisations, and some individuals.
Sait said the government should show the same enthusiasm when celebrating Tipu Jayanthi as is done during the jayanthis of stalwarts from other communities.
"Cancelling celebrations or processions and banning all programmes other than scheduled government events just because someone will cause hurdle somewhere, causes insult to the community," he added.
Kumaraswamy did not attend the event citing doctor's advice to take rest for three days till November 11.
The chief minister's office had made prior announcement about Kumaraswamy's inability to attend the function and his name was also not printed in the invitations.
Following the chief minister's decision to skip the event, reports had emerged about differences in opinion between the ruling coalition partners about Tipu Jayanthi celebrations.
While in the opposition, Kumaraswamy had questioned the need for such celebrations.
Kumaraswamy reportedly chose to skip the event, not wishing to antagonise voters in his party's bastion of old Mysuru region, as Tipu Sultan along with his father Hyder Ali had seized power from Maharajas of Mysuru, who are virtually revered there.
Parameshwara, who was to inaugurate the main Tipu Jayanthi celebration event at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state legislature here, in the absence of Kumaraswamy, also skipped the function Saturday.
Parameshwara was reportedly in Singapore to visit a senior politician from Karnataka, who is ailing.
His office maintained that the deputy chief minister was out of town.
Later in a statement, Parameshwara, while hailing Tipu and his contributions to the state, maintained that due to unavoidable reasons he was unable to attend Tipu Jayanthi celebrations Saturday and wished success for the event.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again
Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
