Row over minority varsity name

Leaders of the Christian community have put the Congress in a tricky situation ahead of the crucial Assembly polls.

They have warned that they will vote against party candidates if the Congress- led UPA government at the Centre does not drop the idea of naming the proposed minority university in Srirangapatna after former Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan.

Christian leader and

Christians warn to vote against Congress candidates if minority varsity is named after Tipu Sultan

social activist T. J. Abraham has instead proposed the name of a noncontroversial Christian personality — Rev. Ferdinand Kittel — for the minority university and demanded that Union minister for minority affairs Rehman Khan should stop playing to the gallery.

People in the coastal districts know how Tipu Sultan destroyed hundreds of churches and temples and forcefully converted people, he said, adding that Christians will never be able to forgive the erstwhile ruler.

The Union government should name the varsity after Rev. Kittel, whose love for Karnataka, Kannada language and literature cannot be disput- ed, as also his unparalleled literary contribution to Kannada through his monumental 1,758- page Kannada- to- English dictionary, he said.

Mr Abraham clarified that his stand should not be construed as antiMuslim as he would not have objected if the varsity was named after saint poet and social reformer Shishunala Sharif or former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

“But naming the university in Srirangapatna after Tipu is unacceptable as it evokes painful memories for Christians,” he said.