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Tipu row: Constitution copy, 'British slaves' jibe by Owaisi to hit back at BJP
Tipu Express is popular among the public because of its shorter travel time when compared with other express trains.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday took a swipe at those who criticised his earlier tweet slamming the BJP-led central government for renaming Tipu Express to Wodeyar Express.
“I seem to have triggered too many illiterate Sanghi shakha-putras with my tweet on Tipu Sultan,” Owaisi wrote on Twitter.
He also posted a photograph of the original illustrated copy of the Constitution of India with Tipu Sultan's portrait in it, saying the founders of the Republic of India knew “more than mercy-petition-writers and British slaves.”
The Railways' decision to rename Tipu Express, which plies between Mysuru and Bengaluru, as Wodeyar Express renewed the debate over the actions of Tipu Sultan as the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. 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. But many see him as someone who fought against the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars.
Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, in a letter to minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, had demanded renaming Tipu Express after Wodeyars by highlighting their contributions to the development of railway lines in the Mysuru region. The request was approved by the ministry and a notification to this effect was issued by the Railway Board on Friday.
Earlier today, Owaisi said in a tweet that the BJP gets irked by Tipu Sultan because he “waged 3 wars against its British masters”. He argued that the government could have renamed another train after Wodeyars.
“BJP will never be able to erase Tipu’s legacy. He scared British while alive & scares British slaves even now,” the AIMIM chief tweeted.
Responding to his tweet, BJP's IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya said that the saffron party does not want to erase the legacy of Tipu Sultan but wants people to know his “true legacy”.
“Tipu was a barbarian, who inflicted untold miseries on the Kodavas in Coorg, the Syrian Christians in Mangalore, the Catholics, the Konkanis, the Nairs of Malabar…,” Malviya tweeted.
