Tipu revisited: Congress must stop playing with fire

The ghost of Tipu Sultan refuses to rest, not because historians summon him, but because politicians won't let go. In Karnataka, Tipu has become less a historical figure and more a political weapon, unsheathed by the Congress party whenever its AHINDA vote-bank strategy starts to wobble.

The latest instance of this dangerous political game comes from H C Mahadevappa, a senior minister and close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. His statement that Tipu Sultan initiated the construction of the Kannambadi (KRS) dam is not only historically inaccurate, but politically motivated. The response has been swift and sharp—Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, representing the erstwhile royal family, debunked the claim with facts. Other prominent voices have joined in, pointing out that the dam was the brainchild of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, executed under the engineering brilliance of Sir M Visvesvaraya in the early 1900s.

But Mahadevappa’s claim was not meant to stand the test of history—it was meant to provoke.  By falsely crediting Tipu with Karnataka’s most iconic irrigation project, the Congress is once again baiting the BJP into a communal slugfest. The intent is clear: provoke outrage, then pose as defenders of secularism, and finally consolidate the Muslim and Dalit votes under the AHINDA umbrella.

This cynical use of Tipu Sultan’s controversial legacy is not new. During Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure, the state-sponsored Tipu Jayanti led to communal violence in Kodagu and elsewhere. Tipu’s rule remains a deeply divisive chapter in Karnataka’s history. While Congress loyalists hail him as a moderniser and freedom fighter, a large section of the population—particularly in Kodagu, Kanara, and Malabar—remember him as a brutal ruler responsible for mass killings and forced conversions. These aren’t figments of imagination—they are backed by historical accounts, including Persian records and missionary letters from the period.

Yet the Congress continues to toy with this tinderbox, wilfully ignoring the deep scars Tipu's name evokes in certain communities. This is not historical revisionism—it is communal opportunism, dressed up as secular righteousness. Mahadevappa's remarks, coming from a senior minister, are especially reckless. At a time when the state should be focusing on employment, education, and infrastructure, we are being dragged back into the quicksand of historical communalism.

The BJP, for its part, will predictably respond with counter-narratives of Hindu victimhood and play the majority card. But that does not absolve the Congress. For a party that claims to be the custodian of secularism, it must stop using minorities as electoral pawns. If it truly wants to uplift marginalised communities, it should do so through policy, not provocation.

Karnataka deserves a politics of the present and the future, not a recycled script of religious polarisation. By repeatedly invoking Tipu Sultan for electoral gain, Congress is not just dishonouring history—it is endangering harmony.