Bengaluru: Objecting to the move to rename Haj Bhavan in Bengaluru as Tipu Ghar, the BJP has suggested that it should be named after former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Speaking at an event here on Sunday, State BJP president Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa warned that his party would take up the issue seriously if Haj Bhavan was named after former Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
The construction of Haj Bhavan was taken up under BJP rule, he reminded and said, “I wanted to provide shelter to Haj pilgrims, who had no place to stay when they came to Bengaluru before leaving for Mecca. It can be called Haj Bhavan or they can name it after Dr Kalam.”
Former Assembly Speaker K.G. Bopaiah also supported Yeddyurappa. Taking a cautious stand on the ongoing row over the renaming of the Haj Bhavan after the erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G. Parameshwar on Sunday asserted that the state government was yet to take a final decision on the issue.
Speaking to reporters here, Dr Parameshwar said, “The BJP always loves creating a controversy out of nothing. This too is one such controversy. The state government has not taken any decision yet, how can the BJP start accusing us? They have done it in the past and now they are doing it over Tipu Sultan again. This is not something new.”
Meanwhile, the row over plans to rename Haj Bhavan after Tipu Sultan continued with BJP leader K.G. Bopaiah saying that his party wanted it renamed after late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
"Our party leaders, including B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is our state unit president, want the Bhavan renamed after Abdul Kalamji, instead of Tipu Sultan," he said.
Bopaiah, a former Speaker, also feared that communal clashes might break out across Karnataka if the state government renamed the Bhavan after Tipu Sultan.
The BJP leader was replying to a query on Minority Welfare and Wakf Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan's June 22 statement that he would discuss with the Chief Minister on renaming the the Bhavan as 'Hazrat Tipu Sultan Haj Ghar'. Khan had said that officials at the recent Haj committee review meeting told him there were several requests to rename the Bhavan, which accomodates Haj pilgrims, and that he would discuss it with the chief minister.
The BJP is opposed to the plan to rename Haj Bhavan,saying it was a building for the entire Muslim community and not just for Tipu's followers. Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashok had said the Bhavan was among the development projects of the Yeddyurappa government and that the Congress was now trying to 'hijack' it by naming it after Tipu.
He had noted that the Bhavan was for the entire Muslim community and not only for Tipu's followers. BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje had said that at no cost should it be named after Tipu and if it was done her party would stage "a strong protest" across the state.
