Mangalore : A ‘Tipu Convention’ was organized by Universal Welfare Forum (UNIWEF) in Mangalore on February 7, Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Barkur Udaya, Associate Professor, Department of History, Mangalore University said distortion of facts to defame Tipu Sultan was not a new phenomenon and was done during the British times itself. An attempt to project him as a villain was made by the British themselves in the first place,” Dr Udaya said. The British feared that more Tipu Sultans would take birth in India if his heroics remain intact in pages of history and hence made attempts to malign him, he further added.
Dr. C S Dwarakanath, former Chairman, Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, also voiced similar opinion and said even the allegation that Tipu had converted thousands of people were wrong. He termed Tipu a “great human being” and a “visionary”, Dr. Dwarakanath said people of the state should be indebted to Tipu for his revolutionary reforms. “If people of the entire Kolar region and several other places of the state are self sufficient with food, it is because of sericulture, which was introduced in Karnataka by Tipu, Dr Dwarakanath said.
Among others present were Abdussalam Puthige, editor in chief, Vartha Bharathi and Rafeeyuddin Kudroli, President of UNIWEF.