After the most powerful Vokkaliga Seer Nirmalananda Natha Swamy has firmly told the ruling BJP government not to rake up Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the two “killers” of Tipu Sultan terming them “fictitious”, a shocked party has gone quiet over the issue.
Following a warning from Vokkaliga Sangha, the association of the Vokkaliga caste to the BJP, the Seer summoned a Cabinet minister Munirathna, who had previously announced launching of a movie “Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda” asking him to drop the idea. He immediately obliged.
After the meeting, the Seer said he categorically rejected the existence of these two men, asking the BJP to provide evidence to support the claims being made by them.
It seems to have put the matter on hold for the time being.
But, Tipu Sultan, the controversial 18th century military ruler of Mysore, will certainly be an issue in the Assembly elections.
Tipu Sultan, who ruled the Mysore kingdom after usurping power from the Wodeyar dynasty in the last quarter of the 18th century, has always been a controversial and complex figure. To some people, he is a freedom fighter, who fought the British in four wars and finally died in 1799 battle of Srirangapatna or the fourth Anglo-Mysore war, that paved the way for absolute domination of colonial English rule across India.
Those who don’t like him or dispute some historical facts, Tipu is a demon and an evil who forcibly converted Hindus and Christians to Islam. For them, he was a tyrant who should be forgotten and not to be celebrated as a freedom fighter.
With the emergence of BJP, Tipu Sultan has become a hot topic in Karnataka politics in the last 8-9 years. The RSS and other Hindutva organisations have been pushing for re-writing the history “depicting” the true nature of him.
They allege that the British historians made Tipu great and post-Independence the Indian historians and government continued to support the same propaganda for political reasons.
But most historians believe that Tipu Sultan was a progressive ruler who had revolutionised his administration through a series of reforms and innovations. They also agree that he was a tyrant who never tolerated any dissent, which common for any mediaeval king who had absolute power.
According to available evidence and documents, Tipu was killed in a cross firing and his body was later found in the palace at his island capital town Srirangapatna. British historians of those days claim no one knows who actually killed Tipu.
Tipu ruled the old Mysore region of today’s Karnataka state and it happens to be the stronghold of farming Vokkaliga community, who account for 12-13% of the total population in the state.
There have been no records of their opposition to Tipu during his regime, except a few unsubstantiated reports or writings.
The Congress and JDS allege that the BJP which is still struggling to win the support of the Vokkaliga caste is using Tipu to make them communal which finally benefits the saffron party.
“They are peddling lies that two Vokkaliga warriors Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda killed Tipu Sultan and they were in the British army. It is a complete joke and has no historical basis. Their aim is to divide Vokkaliga and Muslims who have no history of animosity between them. That’s why they are spreading this Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda nonsense. We will oppose it tooth and nail. Why should we be blamed for Tipu’s killing by the British?” said former chief minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy.
DK Shivakumar, KPCC president and a fellow Vokkaliga from the same region, has also expressed same sentiments attacking the BJP for subverting the history for electoral gains.
Some political analysts say the BJP’s new theory has backfired and the party should stay away from it because it can hurt their Vokkaliga supporters.
C Basavalingaiah, a noted theatre director, argues that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda never existed and the pictures being used by the BJP are of two warriors from Madurai.
Talakadu Chikkarange Gowda, who has done extensive research on Vokkaliga caste, also dismisses the BJP theory or “findings”.
However, Addanda Cariappa, director of Rangayana in Mysore, a state government-run repertoire, vehemently argues that it is a fact and not a fiction. He has also directed a play ‘Tipuvina Nija Kanasugalu’ or ‘The True Dreams of Tipu’ to support his claims.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was uncomfortable with the new theory, has welcomed Vokkaliga Seer’s decision, saying everybody should keep quiet after this.
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