Karnataka: The controversy over Tipu Sultan and Savarkar in Karnataka has come to the fore once again after the Municipal Council in Yadgiri district renamed the Tipu Sultan Circle as Savarkar Circle.
The Yadgiri Municipal Council Chairman Suresh Ambigar added that the decision was made after Hindutva organizations pressurized the municipal council to rename it as Savarkar Circle.
Meanwhile, there are proper documents to prove the place is officially named Tipu Circle, one of the protestors Wahid Miya told the reporters that the council is trying to play regional communal politics. “The circle was named Tipu circle but now under BJP government, they are going to rename this as Veer Savarkar. This is against the law.”
However, he noted that in the prevailing situation in India, the officers do not take action due to political pressure. He said that if the authorities work under the law, hate speech can be completely banned in India, today.
Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Yale University and the author of How Fascism Works, compared what is happening in India now to Nazi Germany. “The early thinkers of the RSS made explicit suggestions that India should follow the Nazi’s model.”
Since BJP came into power, it has been spreading ‘us-versus-them’ philosophy in a country which is already been divided into various factions. Government bodies began rewriting history books, lopping out sections on Muslim rulers, changing official place names to Hindu from Muslim, and more aggressively contesting holy sites.
They also began pushing extremist Hindu priorities, including an effort to locate a mystical river that features prominently in Hindu scriptures. Mr. Modi, has become more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims, between upper and lower castes, between men and women.
PM Modi and his party have created a poisonous atmosphere that has dehumanized minorities and inspired the violence. A retired historian, Aditya Mukherjee referring to Prime Minister Modi and his political allies as “communal fascists”.
The “saffronization” of history by BJP government is another way to disempower India’s Muslim and deny them a stake in country’s history. RSS also demands many other places with Muslim names, including cities of Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Aurangabad to be renamed.
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
