BJP to observe ‘black day’ on Tipu Jayanti

Yeddyurappa accuses Siddaramaiah govt. of going against the sentiments of the people.

Karnataka : Bengaluru : 08/11/2016 : Members of Bharatiya Janatha Party lead by State Unit President B S Yedyurappa demonstating at Race Course Road against State Governement decission to celebrate Tippu Jayanti on Tuesday, 08 November 2016. Photo : V Sreenivasa Murthy

The State-sponsored Tipu Jayanti, scheduled for Thursday, is poised for a political battle between the Congress government and right-wing groups as Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party president B.S. Yeddyurappa on Tuesday gave a call to his party workers to observe the jayanti day as a “black day” and court arrest.

Registering its opposition to Tipu Jayanti, the BJP held Statewide protests on Tuesday. In Bengaluru, Mr. Yeddyurappa spearheaded a protest demonstration during which he called upon party workers to stage black flag protests on Thursday.

Accusing the government of going against the sentiments of the people by getting ready to celebrate Tipu Jayanti, he warned that the government itself would have to take the blame if there was any law and order problem on the day.

He declared that the BJP, if voted to power, would cancel the official celebration of Tipu Jayanti within 24 hours, besides banning organisations such as the Popular Front of India, which he accused of having a role in fatal attacks against right-wing activists.

Alleging that there was a link between the spate of fatal attacks on right-wing activists and the decision to hold Tipu Jayanti, Mr. Yeddyurappa said the BJP State unit would brief Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue.

BJP spokesperson S. Suresh Kumar questioned the rationale behind spending huge sums of money on Tipu Jayanti instead of using the funds for taking up drought-relief works.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Kalaburagi for some time when BJP members blocked traffic movement on major roads for three hours during their protest. In Belagavi, the police arrested BJP workers who took out a protest march. In Udupi, the district administration has clamped prohibitory orders throughout the district from Tuesday till Friday. Meanwhile, Karnataka Christian Social Welfare Association (KCSWA) and the Federation of Konkani Catholic Associations (FKCA) have opposed the State government’s move to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary. KCSWA and FKCA members told presspersons here on Tuesday that they were not against any community, but against a ruler who “punished and killed several Hindus and Christians”.