VHP condemns ‘brutal killing’ of its worker in Karnataka

Allahabad

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today described the death of a middle-aged man during clashes at a town in Karnataka as “brutal killing” and asked the Centre to “protect Hindus against such acts of religious intolerance”.

“We condemn the brutal killing of a Hindu, staging a peaceful demonstration, by a mob,” VHP international working president Praveen Togadia said in a statement.

Togadia was referring to the death of a 50-year-old man, said to be associated with the VHP, who succumbed to injuries sustained during a clash that broke out in Madikeri town during a demonstration against the celebration of the birth anniversary of 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan.

All sangh parivar outfits, including the BJP, had declared a boycott of the celebrations holding that Tipu Sultan was a “fanatic” and not a “progressive and secular” ruler as described by the ruling Congress party in the state.

At Madikeri, violence erupted when a group taking out “Tipu Sultan Jayanti” procession came face to face with a agitators protesting the celebrations.

Both sides indulged in heavy stone-pelting before police intervention brought the situation under control.

Tipu Sultan is a sensitive issue in Kodagu district.

Thousands of Kodavas (Coorgis), considered a martial race, were seized and held captive by Tipu Sultan, who had occupied Kodagu district after a number of attempts to suppress their rebellion in the 1780s.

According to a version of history, the captured Kodavas were subjected to forcible conversions to Islam, death and torture, besides destruction of temples. Kodagu-based writer of historical books C P Beliappa has called Tipu Sultan a “treacherous tyrant”.

However, the scale of such suppression is disputed by several historians who see Tipu Sultan as a secular and modern ruler who took on the might of the British and died while defending his fort at Srirangapatna near Mysuru against their forces.

PTI