Veteran writer and president of the 79th Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Ko. Channabasappa, has supported the Union government’s decision to establish a minority university named after Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatna.
Without naming historian M. Chidananda Murthy, who has been vehemently opposed to naming the university after Tipu, Mr. Channabasappa said a researcher had been spreading canards about Tipu stating that he was anti-Hindu and anti-Kannadiga. “Accusing Tipu of being anti-Hindu is false and baseless. It was he and his father, Hyder Ali, who rebuilt the Sri Sringeri Temple that was destroyed by Maratha invaders. How can a person who rebuilt and renovated a Hindu temple be called an anti-Hindu bigot?” he said.
‘Enough proof’
There are enough documents to prove that Tipu was a patriot and a secular leader, he said.
He urged writers not to create communal tensions in society and said it was for the people to decide whom they should trust.
City of harmony
Describing Bijapur as the land of sufis and saints, Dr. Channabasappa said during the period of Adil Shahis, this historic city was the centre of religious harmony.
“Bijapur city is the symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, where people of both faiths have lived by worshiping sufis and saints,” he said, adding that no person should contaminate this harmony with communal activities,” he said.
