Described as one of the foremost commanders of  independence struggle by the Historians, Tipu was the first to have banned consumption of alcohol in the state not on the religious grounds , but on moral and health grounds.

He was the one who introduced Missile or Rocket technology in wars. Some of the other reforms  introduced by Tipu include are introduction of seri culture, confiscating the property of upper castes including Mutts and distributing to the Shudras.

Let us not gloss over the controversies and make it look as if Tipu was another Gandhi !  Another more important news item that is also part of this issue has been completely overlooked in this discussion !There has been protest against Tipu's celebrations since a long time , ever since the time Sanjay Khan went and made his serial and he was made to change certain facts where he depicted him to be a great patriot . It is a well known fact that he forcibly converted people in Mysore and Srirangpatna to Islam during his rule . But Siddaramaiah our corrupt Chief Minister in his all out attempt to please the minorities would go to any extent ..VHP and other organisations went on a protest march and one of the activist was killed in the clashes ? any writers ready with their awards for the poor fellow who lay down his life for a cause ? I doubt that  ..In fact our CM has refused to take any responsibility for the death of this  person who is a retired official from the horticultural dept , calling it an accident ! How insensitive can one get ?

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/tipu-sultan-jayanti-protest-vhp-activist-succumbs-to-injuries-in-karnataka/

Poor Tipu must be turning in his grave. Both sides are doing injustice to his contributions. Bihar has shown that you cannot win votes by dividing communities but still the game goes on.

vijay wrote:

Poor Tipu must be turning in his grave. Both sides are doing injustice to his contributions. Bihar has shown that you cannot win votes by dividing communities but still the game goes on.

 

You mean it was Muslim vote against Hindus which won in Bihar? It was nothing but intelligent vote bank management under the leadership of Guru of the game Lalu Pd yadav.

It will please you a lot if I were to say Yes, which I am not going to say, because I do not know. What I do know is that BJP tried to divide voters but they instead united against it. Every action has a reaction.

I hope Tipu turns in his grave at least now ...after all the atrocities he is supposed to have committed !

This is from wikipedia ..

Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan[edit]

An 1868 photograph of the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire atHampi, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site^[36]

There are historians who state that Tippu Sultan was a religious persecutor of Hindus.^[37][38] C. K. Kareem also notes that Tippu Sultan issued an edict for the destruction of Hindu temples in Kerala.^[39] Hindu groups revileTipu Sultan as a bigot who massacred Hindus.^[40] He was known to carry out forced conversions of Hindus and Christians.^[41]

Tipu got Runmust Khan, the Nawab of Kurool, to launch a surprise attack upon the Kodava Hindus (also called Coorgs or Coorgis) who were besieged by the invading Muslim army. 500 were killed and over 40,000 Kodavas fled to the woods and concealed themselves in the mountains.^[42] Thousands of Kodava Hindus were seized along with the Raja and held captive at Seringapatam (Srirangapatna). They were also subjected to forcible conversions to Islam, death, and torture.^{[43][full citation needed]}

In Seringapatam, the young men who were forcibly circumcised were incorporated into the Ahmedy Corps, and they formed eight Risalas or regiments.^[42] The actual number of Kodavas that were captured in the operation is unclear. The British administrator Mark Wilks gives it as 70,000, Historian Lewis Rice arrives at the figure of 85,000, while Mir Kirmani's score for the Coorg campaign is 80,000 men, women and child prisoners.^[42] In a letter to Runmust Khan, Tipu himself stated We proceeded with the utmost speed, and, at once, made prisoners of 40,000 occasion-seeking and sedition-exciting Coorgis, who alarmed at the approach of our victorious army, had slunk into woods, and concealed themselves in lofty mountains, inaccessible even to birds. Then carrying them away from their native country (the native place of sedition) we raised them to the honour of Islam, and incorporated them into our Ahmedy corps.

Tipu sultan fought battle against the British. He is rightly considered as a hero, a freedom fighter and known for innovative measures. It is learnt that there is resentment in some regions for his said repression of certain communities.  This resulted in tussle and death of one person. This is unfortunate. It is duty of government to consider the ground reality.  It is no use celebrating the occasion in a way as would lead to such nuisance and loss of life. As regards positive andf negative aspects of Tipu sultan's rule, it is for historians to comment.  

One cannot expect any rational statements ot thoughts from Congress supporters and they would call Tipu Sultan a hero no doubt about that because they have to show they are always right ! Now another one of those has come up with some pearls of wisdom on the issue ..Girish Karnad should be given another Jnanpith award for some of his statements which also goes where the leanings of so called eminent thinkers lie...According to him what happened in Kodagu and Kerala does not matter, only what happens in Dadri matters ..With all his so called intelligence he makes Kodagu a separate entity while it is very much part of Karnataka state ! what kind of eminent people we have amidst us ! Of course it is a well known fact that Girish Karnad has always had foot in the mouth disease, and such were the people selected for awards by the previous government !

How do you respond to allegations that Tipu Sultan was a tyrant who committed forced conversions in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts?

He may have converted people in Kodagu and Kerala. But politics of those years cannot be debated now. The point is he did not do this in Karnataka. He was a good king for Karnataka. He did not rape or convert anyone in this state. He supported Hindu temples. We can't go into what he did in Kodagu or Kerala because even the British did it. The British also destroyed Srirangapatna, Tipu's capital, before moving to Mysuru. You can't compare those days of history to now and interpret.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Intolerance-linked-to-PM-Modi-Girish-Karnad/articleshow/49751091.cms

The current crisis on Tipu sultan bithday celebration is indeed unfortunate. This could have been avoided. But there is political angle too. This crisis is also a handle to the saffron party to penetrate Tamalnadu and Kerala. Here is a report-

http://www.satyagrah.com/politics/bjp-and-tipu-sultan-controversy/

I guess for Congress and its ardent supporters history is only what they want everyone to believe which is laughable, anyway the wikipedia is not the property of the BJP nor the saffron parties nor is Times of India or India today, both of which are Congress sympathisers ...And more importantly Kareem , a historian who has recorded the facts is certainly not a BJP sympathiser and the facts he recorded were much before BJP came into prominence..Congress people seem to see color Saffron everywhere !