Need for renaming of Tipu Express questioned
The Hindu
MYSURU
The need for renaming of Tipu Expressn, which plies between Mysuru and Bengaluru, as Wodeyar Express was questioned by many in Mysuru on Saturday.
While JD(S) leader K.V. Mallesh said the removal Tipu’s name from the train by the BJP “in an effort to isolate the Muslim community” tantamounts to showing disrespect to the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru, whose ancestors had strived to establish equality among different communitiies in the society.
He described the removal of the the name of an “achiever” like Tipu Sultan as a “petty” and “shameful” act. However, he said Tipu’s name cannot be removed from the minds of the people or the history books by merely erasing it from the train.
The Railway Board had issued a notification renaming Tipu Express as Wodeyar Express after Mysuru MP Pratap Simha wrote a letter to Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Congress MLC Thimmaiah too condemned the renaming of Tipu Express and said the government should have instead named a different train after Wodeyar.
Wondering if the BJP considered the renaming of the train named as an achievement, Mr .Thimmaiah said the saffron party was only sowing the seeds of differences among different communities to create trouble in the society.