In Karnataka, a row has erupted as the film production studio owned by the state Horticulture Minister Munirathna has planned to make a biopic on, Vokkaliga chieftains, the killers of Islamist tyrant and erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
Vrushabhadri Productions owned by the film producer-turned-politician Munirathna has applied with the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce to register Uri Gowda Nanje Gowda as the title of the said biopic. According to legends in the old Mysuru belt, Tipu Sultan was killed by the two Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, and the movie is based on this belief.
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 H D 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.
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.
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
H D Kumaraswamy said that by claiming that the Vokkaliga chieftains killed Tipy Sultan, BJP is attempting to make Vokkaligas look like villains permanently in history.
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. “The duo protected the Mysore royal family. Instead of feeling proud of their achievement, why is Congress-JD(S) feeling shy in accepting it,” she said.
BJP general secretary C.T. Ravi also said that the characters of Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda are historical truth. Revenue Minister R. Ashok said that the issue has nothing to do with politics, and it is wrong to bring a caste angle to it. He asserted that “BJP stands by history.”
Recently, 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.
Notably, in November last year, a play was staged in Mysuru wherein it was shown that Tipu Sultan was killed by the two Vokkaliga chieftains. This play was based on the book titled ‘Tipu Nijakanasugalu’ (Real Dreams of Tipu) authored by Rangayana director Addanda C. Cariappa.
On November 22 of last year, in response to a plea filed by the former chairman of the District Wakf Board Committee, the Additional City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru temporarily halted the distribution and sale of the book.
Back then, Carriappa had said, “When I try to introduce the darker side and the cruel side of Tipu Sultan, my voice is suppressed. This literary work is the result of extensive research and is based on numerous books. If critics think I am wrong, I am ready to have a debate.”
Shobha Karandlaje, a senior member of the BJP and the Union Minister of State (MoS), asserted that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda were real people with historical references. She said that Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda are mentioned in plays and ballads and claimed that they fought Tipu to defend the state and the Mysuru Maharajas.
It is notable that the Islamic ruler Tipu Sultan is hailed as a freedom fighter by so-called seculars and many Muslims. Tipu Sultan is painted as the one who struggled against the British. But, the anti-Hindu Islamic barbarian acts of the 18th-century tyrant are not too old to be forgotten. This fact lands the Islamists in the middle of a controversy that keeps arising time and again.
