IANS/Bengaluru

Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad continued their protests against the Karnataka government’s Tipu Sultan birth anniversary celebrations yesterday.
Protests were organised at Malleshwaram, Town Hall, Jayanagar, Vijayanagar and Ulsoor in Bengaluru city.
The BJP and VHP activists burnt effigies of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway in Srirangapatnam.
The protesters were demanding action against the chief minister for organising Tipu Sultan Jayanti and compensation to a 50-year-old VHP supporter who died during Tuesday’s protests.
Several Hindu organisations are protesting Tipu Sultan’s 265th birth anniversary being celebrated in the Congress-led Karnataka government. Christians too joined Bajrang Dal and Rashtriyaswayam Sevak Sangh cadres in protests in Manguluru, claiming Tipu Sultan harassed Christians.
Meanwhile, theatre personality Girish Karnad was criticised for allegedly suggesting the renaming of Kempegowda International Airport here after the 18th century ruler.
“As Tipu was born at Devanahalli where the new airport has been built and operating, naming it after him would have been appropriate, as he also fought against the British,” Karnad said at a function here.
The airport, about 40km away from the city centre, was named after Kempe Gowda on December 15, 2013 on the recommendation of the then BJP government, with the support of all political parties and social organisations.
Hours after Karnad’s remarks at a function held by the state government to commemorate Tipu’s birth anniversary, the BJP protested and ruled out renaming the airport.