Slugfest over renaming of Tipu express in Karnataka

The request was approved by the ministry and a notification to this effect was issued by the Railway Board on Friday. The order for renaming the train will come into effect from Saturday.

The Railways has renamed Tipu Express, which plies between Mysuru and Bengaluru, as Wodeyar Express.

Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, in a letter to Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw a few months ago, demanded renaming of Tipu Express as Wodeyar Express. (ANI)

The news first broke on Mysuru MP Pratap Simha’s Twitter page. The demand was made by Simha in a letter to Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw a few months ago. The request was approved by the ministry and a notification to this effect was issued by the Railway Board on Friday. The order for renaming the train will come into effect from Saturday.

Simha in his letter highlighted the contributions of Wodeyars to the development of railway lines in the Mysuru region. “Considering the contributions of the Wodeyar dynasty, not only for the development of the railways but also for transforming it as a modern state, there is a strong sentiment among the people of my parliamentary constituency to rename (the train),” read his letter.

Another express service connecting Mysuru and Talaguppa was renamed from Talaguppa Express to Kuvempu Express after the Kannada poet Kuvempu. Speaking about the achievements of Kuvempu in his letter, Simha said, “He (Kuvempu) did not believe in superstitions, blind beliefs and divisions based on caste, creed and other groups. He was a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award and Padma Bhushan,” Simha said.

Responding to the move,Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar slammed the BJP for removing Tipu’s name. “We are not saying that you should not keep Wodeyar ’s name. Start another 4-5 trains and keep everyone’s name. But the removal of Tipu’s name is not right. BJP wants everyone to fight and create animosity within the communities,” he said.

Pro-Kannada group leader Vatal Nagaraj opposed the move and said that it is condemnable. “It is not right to rename Tipu Express. Tipu fought against the British and died while fighting for the country. The Centre should not have been involved in such cheap politics. This will not bring any respect to anybody,” Nagaraj said.

Supporting the move, revenue minister R Ashoka said Tipu was not a Kannadiga. “With good intention, Tipu’s name was removed as Wodeyar’s name has been kept. Wodeyars gave water to Mysuru and Mandya people. They sold their jewellery to construct KRS Dam. We never accepted that Tipu was a Kannadiga. He killed people and converted them,” Ashoka said.

Tipu Express was flagged off on April 15, 1980, as a superfast train connecting Mysuru and Bengaluru, and the train covered the 139 km between the two cities in 3.15 hours. Tipu Express is popular among the public because of its shorter travel time when compared with other express trains.

The controversy over Tipu Sultan and a political movement to remove him from the textbooks have surfaced in Karnataka over the last decade. The root of the controversy goes back to the campaign of the Tipu Sultan against the Kodava community and allegations of murder and forced conversions. The Kodavas are an ethnic-lingual tribe that consider themselves to be the original inhabitants of Kodagu. Considered martial race, the memory of their persecution under Tipu Sultan serves as a reminder of their loss of dignity.

Kodavas’ oral history says that Tipu killed several of them in Devati Parambu and then took close to 100,000 of them as prisoners to his fort at Srirangapatnam, where he forcibly converted them. The community has been opposing the hailing of Tipu as a freedom fighter.

MP Simha also represented Kodagu in the Lok Sabha.