The Bengaluru city civil court stayed the release of the book titled ‘Siddu Nija Kanasugalu’ on Monday after a petition was filed by Congress MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the son of the Leader of Opposition and former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah.
The book, authored by Rohith Chakrathirtha, was to be released on Monday afternoon by Karnataka higher education minister CN Ashwath Narayan, and BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy was the chief guest. Chakrathirtha earlier headed the state’s textbooks revision committee, which the government disbanded after protests over the new textbooks.
In May this year, the revision committee headed by writer Rohith Chakrathirtha kicked up a row after reports emerged that chapters on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, Lingayat social reformer Basavanna, among others were allegedly been removed from the syllabus.
According to people aware of the developments, the book contained writings on the alleged “misrule” during the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state between 2013 to 2018and his “appeasement politics”.
It also reportedly highlights controversial and communally sensitive issues and incidents during the former chief minister’s tenure.
The Karnataka Congress on Sunday had lodged a complaint at the SJ Park police station in Bengaluru, demanding that the police stop the book release at the Town Hall in the city on Monday.
Soorya Mukundaraj, general secretary of state Congress legal cell, in the complaint, alleged that the book contains derogatory, imaginary and provocative writings on Siddaramaiah. Mukundaraj also said the book had a distorted image of Siddaramaiah on its cover page.
The posters of the book launch event slated on Monday showed copies of books with a picture of Siddaramaiah wearing an attire resembling the 18th-century ruler of erstwhile Mysuru Kingdom, Tipu Sultan, and holding a sword on its cover.
According to the poster, Narayan was supposed to release the book. “I appreciate the effort to find answers to many questions along with revealing many sensitive issues through the book “Siddu Nijakanasugalu”. I am going to participate in the public launch of this book,” Ashwath Narayan had said, tweeting about the event on Sunday.
Hitting out at the BJP, Mukundaraj said that the invitees have a track record of sharing false messages on social media and targeting one particular community to disturb law and order in the state. “This time also, there is an intention to stir communal peace by projecting Siddaramaiah in a certain way, which leads to communal disturbance in the society,” Mukundaraj stated.
“If permission is given for this programme, it should be withdrawn, and direction should be given for the organisers to cancel the book release programme,” Mukundaraj further said in the complaint.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah on Monday said the book intended to humiliate him ahead of the assembly elections in the state next year and called it “defamatory”. “To humiliate me ahead of the elections, they are bringing out a book. It is defamatory. I will see what is to be done legally,” Siddaramaiah said.
“I don’t know, everything is yellow for those with jaundiced eyes. Who wore the dress like Tipu Sultan and held a sword in their hands? It was Yediyurappa and Shobha Karandlaje. Who wrote the foreword for Sheikh Ali’s book on Tipu, isn’t it duality?” Siddaramaiah asked, alleging BJP’s role behind the book.
Recently, Siddaramaiah courted controversy after his comments against chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
On January 4, he called Bommai the ‘PM’s puppy’ at a meeting in the Ballari district. This resulted in a war of words between Congress and the BJP, with Bommai saying the former chief minister’s words mirror his personality. Siddaramaiah later claimed he did not mean to insult Bommai and only wanted to underline his “spineless” nature.
Siddaramaiah also lashed out at the ruling BJP after the southern state’s tableau was dropped from this year’s Republic Day parade. “It is unfortunate that Karnataka will not be participating in the Republic Day parade this year. Rejection of Karnataka’s tableaux reflects how serious Karnataka BJP is about upholding the pride of our state,” the leader of the opposition said.