Karnataka High Court declines to stay govt decision to cancel Tipu Sultan Jayanti

Bangalore, November 7: The Karnataka High Court yesterday declined to stay the State Government's decision to cancel celebrations of the birth anniverasry of Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan. The court, however, has asked the Government to reconsider its decision within two months. 

The Court was hearing a PIL challenging the State Government’s decision to cancel Tipu Jayanti celebration as a State event. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S. R. Krishna Kumar asked the Government to approach the court with its stance on January 20 next year.  The bench directed the Government to take precautions to ensure that private celebrations of Tipu Jayanti are peaceful and harmonious.

Tipu Sultan birth anniversary comes on November 10. The BJP government had in July scrapped the celebration of Tipu Sultan's birth anniversary, calling the erstwhile Mysore king a religious bigot who brutally abused several Hindus in the state. On the contrary, Tipu Sultan was considered an implacable enemy of the British East India Company. This historical controversy has heated Karnataka politics.