Citizen
Tipu And Saffronazis
By Subhash Gatade
23 September, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Ghatam Bhindyat, Patam Chhindyat, Kuryat Rasbharohanam
Yenken Prakaren, Prasidho Purusho Bhavet
( Break Earthen Pots,
Tear Clothes, Ride on a Donkey
Men try to achieve popularity by any means)
- Sanskrit couplet
Who
is D. H. Shankarmurthy ?
It is a fact that till the
other day the rest of the country hardly knew the name of this man.
But today everybody is talking about this minister for Higher Education
in the JD(S) and BJP coalition government in Karnataka.
It remains to be seen whether
his aim to achieve popularity by any means has been inspired by the
above mentioned Sanskrit Sholka(couplet). But looking at the fact that
he has been a member of the Sangh Parivar for quite sometime, where
years of attending Shakhas and listening to endless Baudhikas on the
repeated theme of the 'other', severly impacts one's critical faculties,
it does not seem to be the case.
Definitely if it would have
concerned some minor affair in the history of Karnataka then the news
would have hardly reached outside. But that is not the case.Rather it
would be more opportune to say that Murthy's attempt to recast the Karnataka
history books in the Sangh Parivar's mould and especially his move to
obliterate the great Tipu Sultan's name from the pages of Kannada history
that has angered a broad cross-section of people cutting across party
lines.
Under the false pretext that
Tipu did not give due importance to the Kannada language and rather
promoted Persian language Shankaramurthy has asserted that Tipu Sultan
should not be glorified. 'Most of the history text books in the country
depict Tipu Sultan, Akbar, Aurangazeb Alexander and others as patriots
but the real ones are never brought to light,' observed Murthy.For him
the alleged neglect of Kannada language by Tipu Sultan is reason enough
that the great warrior of all times who even sacrificed his children
to end colonial rule be obliterated from Karnataka's history.
For him it hardly matters
that Tipu Sultan was a ruler who was much ahead of his times, who was
apostle of Hindu-Muslim unity, who was fond of new inventions, who is
called innovator of the world’s first war rocket, who felt inspired
by the French Revolution and despite being a ruler called himself Citizen
and even planted the tree of 'Liberty' in his palace.
For Murthy it is a minor
matter that Tipu sensed the designs of the British and tried to forge
broader unity with the domestic rulers and even tried to connect with
French and the Turks and the Afghans to give a fitting reply to the
hegemonic designs of the British. Perhaps the Sangh Swayamsevak which
is lurking inside the minister for higher education does not want the
future generations to even know that Tipu defeated the British army
twice with his superior planning and better techniques and who died
in the battlefield itself fighting the Britishers again with his sword
in his hand.
Ofcourse the move to obliterate
the name of the warrior whose martyrdom fighting the Britishers preceded
the historic revolt of the 1857 by around 50 years does not appear surprising
as far as the whole trajectory of the RSS is concerned. The eighty plus
year old history of the 'cultural organisation' is replete with facts
which show how they have discovered cowardice as a virtue. Thousands
of pages have been written about the way they kept themselves aloof
from the historic anti-colonial struggle of the Indian people under
the excuse that they want to unify the Hindus. Enough has been written
on the way they tried to break the wider anti-colonial unity by pitting
Hindus against Muslims. Perhaps it is high time to emphasise the fact
the ideologues of the Hindutva brigade were 'pioneers' as far as claiming
that Hindus and Muslims were two nations.
The pretext of anti-Kannada
bias in Tipu Sultan runs hollow when one knows that the Archeaological
Department of Mysore State is in possession of over thirty letters by
Tipu to the Shankaracharya of Shringeri Math. These letters are written
in the Kannada characters.
It is now history how the
colonials distorted our history to suit their imperial interests. One
very well knows they called our uprisings as mutinies, our heroes as
villains, and our freedom fighters as usurpers and terrorists. The move
to obliterate Tipu's name from the pages of Kannada history is another
vindication that Sangh Parivar has taken it upon themselves the task
left unfinished by the colonialists.
Subhassh Gatade
can be reached at [email protected]