Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has added fuel to the ongoing war of words between his party and the BJP over the legacy of Tipu Sultan after he showered praise on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for paying tribute to the 18th century Mysore ruler on his death anniversary.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP took to Twitter on Tuesday to claim that the Pakistan premier's interest in the shared history of the Indian subcontinent is “genuine and far reaching”.
“It is disappointing, though, that it took a Pakistani leader to remember a great Indian hero on his punyathithi,” Tharoor wrote on the micro-blogging site.
His reference to Tipu Sultan as the “great Indian hero” is not likely to go down well with the saffron brigade who has been accusing the erstwhile ruler of "genocide", including the killings of Kodavas in Kodagu district and Mandyam Iyengars of Melukote.
On May 4, Imran Khan had tweeted: "Today 4th May is the death anniversary of Tipu Sultan - a man I admire because he preferred freedom and died fighting for it rather than live a life of enslavement."
Imran Khan's tweet took no time to trigger a war of words between senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah and BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday. “It's time for you to hug Imran Khan,” Chandrasekhar had tweeted, addressing the former chief minister. Responding to the tweet, Siddaramaiah said he was not the one to "eat biryani" with the premier of an enemy country.
Siddaramaiah had started the tradition of celebrating Tipu Jayanti as then chief minister of Karnataka three years ago.
The BJP has been vehemently opposing the move, terming it as an act of Muslim appeasement.
