Alt News co-founder Mohd Zubair on Tuesday happened to laugh at the incidence of the public hanging of Hindu rulers by the British. In a tweet shared on March 21, he said that the Maruthu Brothers (Maruthu Pandiyar), rulers of the Sivaganga kingdom fought with the Britishers and were publicly hanged to death at Tirupputhur fort by the British in 1801. He used the laughing emojis while sharing it.
The incident occurred when the Alt news co-founder shared a tweet targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka for sharing the ‘wrong’ posters for the welcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the party had used portraits of the Maruthu brothers and claimed that they were images of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda who are believed to have killed Islamist tyrant and erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
Zubair also meanwhile, blatantly termed Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda as fictional characters and said that the party was re-writing history by escalating confusion between Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda and Maruthu Brothers. He also shared an old tweet by Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai in which the latter could be seen bowing to the Maruthu Pandiyar brother’s portrait. He further mocked Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi saying that K Annamalai had failed to teach proper history to him.
Karnataka Minister & film producer Munirathna @MunirathnaMLA later made a U-turn & said he decided against making the film titled Uri Gowda-Nanje Gowda. Not sure if he still know that images used are of Maruthu Pandiyar brothers. 🤐 pic.twitter.com/z0QsRPa4sm
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) March 20, 2023
As reported earlier, controversy erupted in Karnataka after the BJP workers installed arch gateways to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the inauguration event of the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway in Mandya on Sunday. The Karnataka BJP workers had erected an arch hailing Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. This, however, was replaced with that of late Vokkaliga seer Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji after outrage erupted.
The controversy also erupted after the film production studio owned by the state Horticulture Minister Munirathna planned to make a biopic on Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the killers of Islamist tyrant and erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan. The movie is based on legends in the old Mysuru belt which state that Tipu Sultan was killed by the two Vokkaliga chieftains, Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda.
However, several historians dispute the claim made by some locals of the former Mysuru belt that Tipu was killed by the two Vokkaliga chieftains rather than the British. Congress and JDS also claimed that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda never existed and they are fictional characters. However, the BJP opines otherwise, saying that they were real, and there is historical evidence to prove it.
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy accused the BJP of “misleading” Vokkaligas by employing ‘fictional’ characters and claiming they were responsible for killing Tipu Sultan. He also claimed that there are ongoing attempts to defame the community. According to him, this is a part of the BJP’s “hidden agenda,” which includes a smear campaign to “insult and politically eliminate” Vokkaligas.
ಕಲ್ಪಿತಕಥೆ, ಸುಳ್ಳುಗಳಿಂದಲೇ ಜನರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಷಬೀಜ ಬಿತ್ತಿ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕವನ್ನು ಅಲ್ಲೋಲಕಲ್ಲೋಲ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ವಕ್ರದೃಷ್ಟಿ ಸದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗರ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಿದ್ದಿದೆ.ಸ್ವಾಭಿಮಾನಿ ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗರನ್ನು ಹೇಗಾದರೂ ಹಳ್ಳ ಹಿಡಿಸಲೆಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಹಿಡೆನ್ ಅಜೆಂಡಾ @BJP4Karnataka ಗೆ ಇರುವುದಂತೂ ಸತ್ಯ.1/11#ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗರ_ಮೇಲೆ_ಬಿಜೆಪಿ_ವಕ್ರದೃಷ್ಟಿ pic.twitter.com/dnJZgHRqub
— ಹೆಚ್.ಡಿ.ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿ | H.D.Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) March 17, 2023
Calling Tipu Sultan a freedom fighter, he alleged that BJP is portraying the Vokkaligas as killers of a freedom fighter. “The BJP is trying to sow seeds of poison through lies and myth, and it has turned its attention on Vokkaligas. This is a hidden agenda by the BJP to insult Vokkaligas through a smear campaign. By attempting to make a film on Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, attempts are being made to rob the Vokkaliga pride on the silver screen,” he tweeted.
Rejecting the claims of the JD(S) and Congress on the issue, senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State (MoS) Shobha Karandlaje said that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda were real, and there were historical references about them. She said that they fought Tipu to safeguard the family of Mysuru Maharajas and to protect the state, and their names are mentioned in folk plays and ballads. BJP general secretary C.T. Ravi also said that the characters of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda are historical truth.
Reportedly, Karnataka Horticulture Minister and movie producer Munirathna announced on Monday that he would drop the idea of producing the movie on Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda. This is after the production of the movie was met with strong opposition from the Vokkaligara Sangha who stated that two of the seers from their community would lead agitation if the idea was not dropped.
Munirathna then met with Adichunchanagiri seer Nirmalananda Swami, the religious leader of the Vokkaliga community, and revealed that he had chosen to halt the project in response to threats and resistance from the Vokkaliga community and the opposition parties. Making a movie, according to Munirathna, wasn’t difficult, but it was important to make sure that no community’s feelings were offended. He continued by saying that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda were disputable figures.
Nirmalananda Swami of Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Mutt calling out propaganda of BJP Leaders in Karnataka for trying to polarise before elections. pic.twitter.com/DBdZSxmxml
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) March 20, 2023
“Any history that has not been recorded by contemporaries of those times, will be subject to dispute. It’s not right to focus on this issue alone,” Nirmalananda Swami suggested. Zubair claimed that Munirathna had also used the portraits of Maruthu Brothers and had confused them with ‘fictional’ characters of the Gowda brothers. He laughed at the fact that these two Hindu rulers were hanged by the Britishers in 1801.
Zubair, who shared the edited clip of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and led to escalation of massive worldwide controversy revolving around Prophet Mohammad, was jailed earlier by Delhi Police for mocking Hindu Gods and Goddesses. He was charged with section 153, 295 of the Indian Penal Code for deliberately insulting religion with the intent to cause a riot.
It is noteworthy that many Muslims and so-called secularists celebrate the Islamic king Tipu Sultan as a freedom fighter. While it is true that Tipu sided with the French and fought with the British to save his kingdom, he was an Islamic tyrant who inflicted unspeakable tortures on Hindus. He engaged in massacres and forced conversions of thousands of Hindus.
