The Congress on Tuesday strongly opposed the removal of lessons that deal with Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan by the Department of Public Instruction from the school syllabus. The party decided to set up a committee to look into the issue.
KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar told presspersons “The BJP government wanted to make personal agenda as historical agenda. This cannot be accepted. Whether they accept Tipu Sultan or Hyder Ali or the Constitution, there is history, which cannot be changed”.
“Whether we celebrate Tipu Jayanti or not, it’s a different issue. But history is history”, he said. During the previous Congress regime, the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah introduced Tipu Jayanti celebrations in Karnataka.Any change in the curriculum or the text has to be debated. You cannot change history, preaching things will be different. We will not agree, we have to take it up very seriously, I will set up a committee on this issue.”
“None of us drafted the Constitution, it has its own agenda and history. There are a lot of issues and history behind it. Nothing can be changed. You may not accept minorities in this country, you may want to change the Constitution, let Parliament do that… Karnataka government cannot do that” Mr. Shivakumar said.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged school holidays, the DPI has reduced syllabi by 30% in the 2020-21 academic calendar.
