Former Union minister, Shashi Tharoor, on Saturday asserted that his party firmly believed that Tipu Sultan should be considered a hero though he raided neighbouring kingdoms. 

Mr Tharoor who was responding to questions by media persons on why the ruling Congress was glorifying Tipu Sultan though he was accused of forcing people to convert to Islam and raided other Indian states, quipped that history had become more contested than the battlefield. 

He added that recognising that there were heroes who had left behind a complex legacy, painting the history in crude caricature, like the BJP did, was not correct. “Tipu is a hero to many and villain to others. But he had done extraordinary things by resisting British colonialism and fought against the British rule. At the same time he also raided on other kingdoms. But the Congress very firmly believes that he should be considered a hero,” he said

He stated that the BJP could dwell on the past while the Congress would focus on the future and on how to make Karnataka more vibrant and prosperous.

Commenting on the ban on outfits like PFI and SDPI, the former minister said the Congress believed in containing any organisation that was accused of tilting towards extremism and that such outfits should be contained by monitoring through discreet surveillance rather than slap a ban on them. “When you ban them they go underground and may create more problem. Where it becomes absolutely unavoidable our party and its governments will not hesitate to outlaw such organisation. Our efforts have always been to bring all sorts of disagreements to the table of interaction,” he observed.

Citing several examples of organisations in Mizoram and Punjab which wished to break away as independent entities, he remarked “Ban is not the best way out.”