A day after BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath hailed the 17th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan as the 'son of this soil', an embarrassed BJP on Thursday chose to distance itself from his remarks.
"The remarks of Vishwanath are his personal views and have been made in his individual capacity. The BJP is of the unanimous and considered view that Tipu Sultan was a fanatic bigot and his rule was tyrannical. History bears testimony that he killed thousands of Hindus in Kodagu district and Christians in Mangaluru district in his bid to establish Islamic rule," said BJP state spokesperson Captain Ganesh Karnik.
On Wednesday, when asked about the ongoing debate on whether to include or omit chapters on Tipu Sultan in school textbooks, Vishwanath, a former minister, had favoured students studying about the ruler.
"Children must study about Tipu Sultan, Mahatma Gandhi and the likes, as it instills a sense of pride for the country. Tipu does not belong to any party, caste or religion. He was son of this soil," said Vishwanath, a former MLA from Hunsur and leader from Mysuru region. He was one of the 17 rebel MLAs, who brought down the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in July 2019 with their mass resignations.
Vishwanath, a former Congress veteran, had quit the party to join the JD(S) during the Siddaramaiah-led government. He quit as JD(S) MLA and also the state JD(S) president to join the BJP. However, he contested and lost the bypolls on BJP ticket, only to be nominated to the upper house recently.
The BJP government, which scrapped the Tipu Jayanti celebrations started by Siddaramaiah government in 2015, has found itself in a spot after Vishwanath showered praise on the erstwhile ruler.
"Tipu Sultan was zealous in converting people by the threat of sword. He had made Persian as the official language of his kingdom and hence he was against Kannada. BJP cannot and will not accept Tipu Sultan as a noble ruler," said Karnik.