The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday took a jibe at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not paying tribute to Tipu Sultan on his death anniversary.
This comes after the Pakistan government handle had tweeted high praise of the 18th-century ruler of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysuru on his 218th death anniversary.
Reacting on social media, the BJP mocked at Siddaramaiah and asked him to pay tribute the 18th-century ruler ‘without further delay’.
Read Also: http://Pakyong Airport gets license, now fly directly to Sikkim
“CM Sir, Pakistan is celebrating your hero’s death anniversary. Your Pakistani friends have even made a video tribute to him. You haven’t even tweeted about him today. The Govt of Pakistan may even question your ‘secular’ credentials. So without further delay, please wish Tipu!,” said the official Twitter handle of BJP Karnataka.
A tweet on the Government of Pakistan’s official handle describes Tipu — a polarising figure in Karnataka politics — as an important and influential historical figure.
Another tweet hails the erstwhile king of Mysore as “[the] first freedom fighter because of his steadfast resistance against the British colonialism.”
Read Also: http://IITian praises PM Modi’s ‘Mala’ and you won’t believe what happened next
Though the Pakistan government tweeted about the Mysore ruler on his death anniversary, it has also come at a time when Karnataka is set to witness assembly elections in a week.
Popularly known as Tiger of Mysore, he has become a controversial figure in India, especially since 2015, when the BJP and the Congress engaged in a war of words over the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu on November 10.
BJP considers the historical figure a “Muslim tyrant” and describes him as “anti-Hindu”, “anti-Karnataka” and “mass murderer”, while the Congress consider him as the first freedom fighter who fought against the British.
Tipu had fought against the British and died in 1799 at the age of 48, while defending his capital Srirangapatna, present-day Mandya, Karnataka.
President Ramnath Kovind in 2017 had said, “Tipu Sultan died a historic death fighting the British.”