Md Jubair: Tensions gripped Karnataka’s Shivamogga after a man was stabbed after communal clashes erupted over a poster of Hindutva icon V.D. Savarkar and 18th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
Members of Tipu Sultan Samyukta Ranga, and other Muslim organisations protesting in Yadgiri district, Karnataka against the BJP’s decision to rename Tipu Circle as Savarkar Circle. Protestors told reporters that the Yadgiri municipal council is trying to play regional-communal.
The protest was held in front of the council’s office. The protestors tied black bands on their hands and shouted slogans to express their disappointment and anguish over the decision. Soon after the clashes, prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Indian Penal Code were imposed in the town.
However, the Yadgiri municipal council chairman Suresh Ambigar maintained that the circle was never named Tipu Circle, adding the decision was made after BJP’s right-wing organisations increased their demands to rename it as Savarkar Circle.
“A few months ago, Hindu organisations requested the circle to be named Veer Savarkar Circle. The order for it to be named Tipu Circle was not passed officially by the government in 2010. They had not received any government order. Now, after renaming it as Veer Savarkar, we have sent an official request to the state government,” Ambigar told reporters.
Meanwhile, claiming there are proper documents to prove the place is officially named Tipu Circle, one of the protestors Wahid Miya told the council is trying to play regional communal politics.
“The circle was named Tipu circle but now under the BJP government, they are going to rename this as Veer Savarkar. This is against the law,” Wahid Miya said.
He added that if the municipal council does not take back the decision, they will resort to large-scale agitation.
It is to mention here that the RSS-inspired Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is renaming the important places and sites after the Hindu personalities to erase the Muslim heritage across the country.
