Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has decided to retain lessons on the 16th Century Mysuru ruler, Tipu Sultan as part of the school syllabus, at least for the next academic year.
The contentious issue was raised when BJP MLA from Madekeri, Appachu Ranjan, had raised objections to the sections in which Tipu was glorified in the current textbooks.
Ranjan wanted the lessons on Tipu to be removed claiming that the Mysuru ruler was a 'tyrant' and had caused atrocities to people of Kodagu and other regions in Karnataka.
“There will not be any change in the textbooks for the coming year, but for future changes, we have decided to constitute a committee to look deep into both the positive and negative sides of the ruler,” said Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar.
The government had earlier asked an expert panel of the Karnataka textbook committee to look into that matter and submit a report. The committee had suggested that the lesson on the Mysuru ruler be retained.
With the deadline to issue printing orders for next year’s textbooks drawing close, the BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government decided to pay heed to the committee’s advice for the time being.
"We did not want to delay the process of allotting work orders for printing the textbooks,” Kumar said, adding the decision on further changes would be taken after a new committee deliberates on the matter.
Earlier, Yediyurappa had suggested that there was no need for lessons on Tipu in the textbooks. The government has also stopped the celebration of Tipu Jayanti on November 10 every year.
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