Mangalore: 'Tipu did nothing for education; name university after Rev Kittel'

Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)

Mangalore, Feb 15: In the wake of the controversy over the name of the proposed Tipu Sultan University at Srirangapattana, social activist on Friday February 15 came up with the suggestion that the university should be named after Rev Ferdinand Kittel.

Addressing a press meet here, he said, “I have come to Mangalore with two main intentions - prevention of corruption and to discuss the issue of naming the university in Srirangapatna in Mysore as Tipu Sultan University. Tipu Sultan was a great warrior, no doubt, but he has made no contributions to the field of education. He was the one who forcibly converted nearly 70,000 to 80,000 Catholics of the coastal regions in Srirangapatna.

“The central government has been hurting the sentiments of the Catholics, especially of the coastal regions. The central government has been trying to please and motivate Muslims by choosing Tipu Sultan’s name. I would like to directly question the Congress whether they are not worried about hurting the feelings of the Catholics of the coastal regions. Doesn’t Congress need our votes?” he said.

“The best suggestion is to name the university after Rev Kittel because he has done and achieved a great deal in the field of education. He has contributed a lot to the people of Karnataka. He was the one to draft the first Kannada-English dictionary,” reiterated Abraham.

“No individual or citizen of this nation would oppose it if the university is named after Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, as he has done a lot,” he added.

“Illegal sand mining has been on at a high rate in Udupi district from the past 10 to 15 years. Udupi has moreover become like mini Bellary in terms of sand mining. I will be visiting Udupi and taking up a campaign against sand mining and the corruption rooted in this,” said Abraham. 

He was accompanied by Raphael Raj, secretary, AKK Christian Kannada Association.