Lessons pertaining to Tipu Sultan in the social science State syllabus school textbooks will be retained in the 2020-21 academic year, but another committee will be set up to look into the “atrocities” committed by the Mysuru ruler.
Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said the State government had decided to continue the lessons in the coming academic year. However, he announced that yet another committee will be formed to examine in depth the “atrocities” committed by Tipu.
“Although Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan had demanded that the lessons be removed because of the atrocities committed in Kodagu, we want the committee to examine the injustice that was meted out to the people in Melukote and Chitradurga as well,” he said. He also said there was a need for students to study both the “positive as well as negative” characteristics of Tipu.
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Elaborating on the government’s decision to retain the lessons on Tipu in the textbooks, he said, “We did not want any delay in the process of allotting work orders for printing the textbooks.”
The issue was first raised by Appachu Ranjan who had written to the department seeking removal of the lessons, terming Tipu a “fanatic”. Subject experts, who were part of the committee, had argued that only “facts” pertaining to him were presented in the class 6, 7 and 10 textbooks and that he was “not glorified”.
The committee formed to deliberate on whether lessons pertaining to the Mysuru ruler should be dropped, retained or modified, had decided that not a single word should be changed in the existing textbooks.
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The Hindu had reported last week about how the government wants to give a silent burial to the issue.
While the BJP government, which had scrapped Tipu Jayanthi, also wanted to ensure that students do not study about the ruler, the committee had given a report favouring that lessons pertaining to him should be continued.