Tipu Sultan killed thousands of Hindus, says Ganesh Karnik

Bengaluru: History bears testimony that he killed thousands of Hindus in Kodagu district and Christians in Mangaluru in his bid to establish Islamic rule, party spokesperson Ganesh Karnik.

The BJP is of the unanimous and considered view that Tipu Sultan is a "fanatic bigot" and his rule was "tyrannical" he said.

"Tipu Sultan was zealous in converting people by the threat of sword.Tipu Sultan had made Persian as the official language of his kingdom and hence he was against Kannada. BJP cannot and will not accept Tipu Sultan as a noble ruler," he added. On controversy relating to plans to remove lessons on the ruler from school textbooks, he had said, that was not the case, and "we have to read about Tipu Sultan."

Soon after coming to power in Karnataka, the BJP government had scrapped the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, an annual government event the party had been opposing since 2015 when it was launched during the Congress rule led by Siddaramaiah.

Some party legislators had demanded that chapters from school textbooks glorifying Tipu have to be dropped. The BJP and right-wing organisations have been strongly opposing Tipu, calling the erstwhile Mysuru king a "religious bigot."