The legendary 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan’s legacy hasn’t had much luck of late, with his reputation often a subject of bitter dispute. Now the name, and what it signifies to different people, has become fuel for another controversy. This one came about after Union minister for minority affairs K. Rahman Khan ann­ounced in December that a minority university would be created in his name in Srir­an­gapatnam, in Karnataka’s Man­dya district, once the capital of Tipu’s kingdom and where his remains are interred.

Predictably, the suggestion has come like a red flag in the face of the ruling BJP and the state’s Hindutva lobby. The possible veneration of a “mass murd­e­rer” of Hindus, and that too under their watch? G. Mad­husudhan, Legislative Cou­ncil member from Srirangapatnam, calls Tipu an “earlier version of Osama bin Laden”. “The man had such conte­mpt for Hin­dus. The whole of Kerala, especially Malapp­uram, saw that. He wasn’t just any other...