5 reasons why Tipu Jayanti controversy is absurd and dangerous
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah paying respect to Tipu Sultan during the inauguration of the Tipu Jayanthi in 2016.
At a time when the GST council meets in Guwahati to decide the prices of many goods and services we consume; India has just marked one year of the drastic economic measure of demonetisation; the Paradise Papers have revealed a host of big Indian names evading taxes; Himachal Pradesh is voting, Gujarat is soon going to; and a 16-year-old boy has allegedly killed a junior to escape examinations; Indians, including the party ruling the Centre, are debating the validity of Tipu Jayanti.
I reject that secularism that requires me to celebrate #TipuJayanti. Shame on Karnataka Congress.
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) November 10, 2017
If Tipu Sultan is an icon of secularism, then Hindus are 100% justified in rejecting the entire concept of secularism. #TipuJayanti
— Rishi Bagree ???? (@rishibagree) November 10, 2017
The most burning question of our times is to establish whether or not a monarch who died in 1799 was a bigot. This in itself sounds absurd enough, but the row around the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, have more sinister undertones.
Aside from the obvious ploy to stir the communal pot and garner votes – by both Congress and the BJP – the row also attempts to rewrite history. The past of any civilisation is an intrinsic part of its identity, and behind the recent attempt to airbrush history we see the otherising of a community which is an integral part of India.
Let us look at some of the reasons why the Tipu controversy is both absurd and dangerous.
Tipu Sultan wreaked destruction on Hindu kingdoms
Every powerful king, across centuries and across the world, attacked other kingdoms and sought to subjugate rivals. This was called expansion, not communalism. Tipu did not single out Hindu kings to attack. He also had rivalries with the Muslim kingdoms in his neighbourhood. In fact, the Anglo-Mysore wars saw Tipu and his father Hyder Ali fight the British allied with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas.
Every king we celebrate as a "great warrior" – Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Krishnadevaraya, Samudragupta – became great by defeating other people. Chandragupta Maurya, credited with being the first ruler to bring "almost the whole of India" under his command, and Samudragupta, hailed as the "Napolean of India" were great conquerors before Islam entered India. It would be idiotic to demonise them for attacking other Hindus, right?
Cherry-picking of history
If records of Tipu Sultan burning temples exist, documents to show that he also patronised others also exist. The more famous among those is his help to restore the Sringeri monastery after Hindu forces – the Marathas – raided it.
Were Marathas being communal when they attacked a revered monastery? No, they were a conquering army following the customs of the times. Tipu's grants and gifts to temples have been well-documented. In fact, Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple in Karnataka still conducts a Tipu aarti. As we have said before, historical facts can be cherry-picked to create any narrative. Any such narrative will be fractured and unjust.
Tipu was behind "mass rapes" of Hindu women
This is an example of WhatsApp-forwarded knowledge that is enriching our lives these days. "Mass rapes" is a term that easily – and justly – generates disgust against the supposed perpetrator. Tipu is not the only king against whom the Hindutva narrative has tried to whip up hysteria through the bogey of mass rapes.
RT if you agree -#TipuJayanti equal to #RapistJayanti
— Rohit Sardana (@RohitSardaana) November 10, 2017
The Mysore king must have committed what by today's standards will be considered war crimes. However, their historical accuracy is difficult to establish. Let us remember that the prominent chroniclers of Tipu's history were either his court historians or the Britishers. While the Britishers obviously wanted to revile him, his historians would have exaggerated the humiliation the "great Sultan" visited upon his foes.
This is the truth of Fateh Ali Khan aka Tipu Sultan. It’s sad how we were fed glorious stories of him in our school text books & television serials. Do not celebrate #TipuJayanti P.S. This is actual photo of Tipu. pic.twitter.com/9v2CIJnCrz
— Mitesh Jain (@MK7786) November 10, 2017
None of the "mass rape" horror stories about Tipu we read about on social media mention any credible source. This is manipulation and propaganda, not history. The ridiculousness of social media attempts to demonise him has gone as far as to claim that the Sultan in fact was a darker-skinned man than what the "libtards" will have you believe.
Tipu's achievements are India's achievements
Some of Tipu's achievements are indisputable. He was a brave warrior who held off the British from establishing complete control over India for a long time. In fact, in 2012, Tipu Sultan and Rani of Jhansi were included among Britain's 20 most formidable foes in a poll by the National Army Museum in London.
He was a great administrator who came up with a land revenue system, promoted sericulture, and was the first to plan what later became the Krishna Raja Sagara dam on the Cauvery. He was among the earliest known rulers to deploy a rocket in warfare, something the British had not seen before, which later became the prototype for the Congreve rocket.
These are the achievements of not a Muslim king, but an Indian king, something all Indians can take pride in. When we seek to otherise and expel Tipu from his place in history, we also deny India an icon who gave the country much to be proud of.
Don't fall prey to distracting controversies
Tipu Sultan was a monarch, he wielded absolute power. He had never been taught secularism. Due to the obvious ills in such systems, the world has moved towards democracies.
We are no longer passive subjects, we are citizens with powers to choose our governments. Instead of fighting over the past, there are issues in the present we need to hold the government – Congress in Karnataka, BJP at the Centre – accountable for.
Rows such as the one around Tipu Sultan seek to appeal to our emotions and hold reason to ransom. Every time we vote for a political party – BJP, Congress or others – on the basis of caste, community or religion, we give them the ticket to be lax with performance.