'Tipu Jayanti' violence: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah orders probe

A local Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader died and several others, including policemen, were injured in the violence on Tuesday.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered a probe by the Regional Commissioner of Mysuru division into the violence that erupted over the holding of the birth anniversary celebrations of 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan.

A local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader died and several others, including policemen, were injured in the violence on Tuesday.

Karnataka Chief Minister had defended the government's decision to commemorate Tipu's birth anniversary even as he slammed RSS and "other communal forces" for opposing it.

Mangaluru United Christian Association, too, protested against the celebrations, alleging that Tipu was responsible for the destruction of many churches in the coastal region and also that Christians were harassed under his rule.

Congress leader PC Chacko termed the incident as a deliberate act of violence committed by the fringe elements of the Bharatiya Janata Party for the ongoing agitation against celebrating the 265th birth anniversary of former Mysore king Tipu Sultan.

Meanwhile, under severe attack for his remarks that Bengaluru International airport should have been named after 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan rather than the city founder Kempegowda, Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad on Wednesday offered his apology.

As he remained in the eye of a storm, the noted playwright and actor sought to end the controversy, saying, "If anybody has been hurt by my remarks, I apologise...What will I gain by doing it (by giving such comments)."

In a controversial remark, Karnad had said that it would have been "apt" had the Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli near here been named after Tipu Sultan rather than Kempegowda, a feudatory ruler under the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire who founded Bengaluru in 1537.

Tipu was a ruler of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore, who was considered an implacable enemy of the British East India Company. He was killed in May 1799 while defending his fort of Srirangapatna against the British forces.