Bengaluru, November 10: Minister DK Shivakumar said that country’s first freedom fighter Tipu Sultan was not just the property of the state, but he was an asset of the country and it was the duty of the state to pay respect to him by celebrating his jayanti.

Inaugurating the Tipu Jayanti programme organized by the Kannada and Culture department at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall here on Saturday, he said that being a brave soldier, Tipu had developed sericulture, horticulture, agriculture and other sectors to help the common people.

No politics in Tipu’s name

During the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Vidhana Soudha, President Ramnath Kovind had recalled Tipu’s contributions to the country. But the BJP leaders have been trying to disturb peace and harmony for their selfish politics, he alleged.

Poojas were being offered in the name of Tipu Sultan in Sri Ranganatha Temple at Srirangapatna, Nanjundeshwara temple at Nanjanagudu and other temples across the state every day. But despite having such instances, the BJP leaders have been conspiring to expose Tipu as anti-Hindus, he regretted.

Food and Civil Supplies department Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that Tipu jayanti was being celebrated since many years. But since four years, it was being celebrated as a government programme. BJP’s protest against Tipu jayanti was just for political reasons. The BJP has been trying to play communal card ahead of Lok Sabha elections by opposing the Tipu Jayanti. BJP state president B.S Yeddyurappa, leaders Jagadish Shettar, R. Ashok and others had participated in Tipu Jayanti programme and appreciated him. But now, when it was announced as the government programme, they have been opposing it. It was the habit of the BJP, he alleged.

Kannada and Culture Minister Dr. Jayamala said that at a time when the society was being divided in the name of caste and religions, the ideologies and principles of brave soldier Tipu Sultan who was known for his communal harmony, tolerance and public help, should be emulated.

Dr K Sadashiva of Mysore University said that Tipu Sultan had built the Mysore state as a ‘welfare state’ through his pro-people works like distribution of lands to the exploited classes, construction of tanks and introducing various reforms. In his army, people given place in his army based on eligibility irrespective of castes and creeds. He has fixed a monthly salary for the soldiers to help their families. He had created an environment where women were living without fear, he recalled.

MLA R. Roshan Baig presided over the programme in which Shanti Nagar MLA NA Haris, MLC Rizwan Arshad, Karnataka Urdu Academy president Mubeen Munavvar, Ameer-a-Shariat Hazrat Maulana Sageer Ahmed Khan Saheb Rashadi and others were present.

“Unnecessary confusion is created on the absence of Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy from the Tipu Sultan Jayanti programme. But the CM was taking rest as per the doctors’ advice. So, his name was not mentioned in the invitation card. But he has sent a message on the Tippu Jayanti”.

-          Zameer Ahmed Khan, Food and Civil Supplies Minister


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Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.

In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.

Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.

“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.

“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.

He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.

“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.

He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.

Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.

The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”

Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.

As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.

Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.