Overview
- Addressing the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis said Maharashtra will not accept invaders as national icons and rejected any comparison between Tipu Sultan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
- He warned that the government will act against glorification of figures that stoke communal tensions, citing hurt sentiments and recent clashes in Pune and Mumbai.
- Fadnavis argued that past textbooks overemphasised Mughal rulers and Tipu Sultan while marginalising Shivaji, and said NCERT materials now devote about 20 pages to Shivaji under the current central government.
- He alleged Tipu Sultan oversaw large-scale killings and contended that Tipu’s battles with the British were driven by self-preservation rather than a national cause.
- The remarks followed a Malegaon dispute where a Tipu Sultan portrait in a deputy mayor’s office was removed after objections, as Congress state chief Harshvardhan Sapkal faced backlash over reported comments he says were misinterpreted.