Bicentennial of Mysore Tiger a tame affair

Waqf Minister, R Roshan Baig, in his capacity as Chairman of the Tipu Sultan Waqf Estate, laid a chador on the erstwhile ruler8217;s tomb, as is customary after the namaaz-e-asr or evening prayers.

The inaugural event, originally meant to be a grand affair, has evidently been sacrificed at the altar of the diverse political interests of the ruling establishment.

Dogged by controversy, the inaugural function, now officially postponed to May 15, seems poised to be a non-starter. A likely casualty of the politics of vote-catching, it will nevertheless spawn its ownshare of political scapegoats.

With rumours making the rounds that the May 15 function might be cancelled altogether, fingers are already being pointed at the two ministers involved 8212; District in-charge Minister K N Nage Gowda and Waqf Minister R Roshan Baig. The latter8217;s reported moves to join the Congress is clearly at the root of this particular intra-party feud.

Meanwhile, Governor Khurshed Alam Khan is also not going to attend the international seminar scheduled for today. At a meeting of the Organising Committee held at the Chief Minister8217;s residence last Friday, it was reported that a decision was taken to invite the Governor to the seminar, if only to beat the Congress to it. The Governor is slated to lay the foundation stone for a school at Srirangapatna on May 7, at the invitation of the private Al-Ameen Education Trust with which Congress MP, K Rehman Khan, is associated. The ruling Janata Dal, which had not invited the Governor to any official function so far, on Friday decided to invite himto the seminar to be held today.

But the decision obviously was not followed through. The reason being cited is that the 8220;relationship between the Governor8217;s office and Roshan Baig is not very good8221;.

Meanwhile, the only certainty is the seminar itself. It will be inaugurated today by Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar, as was originally scheduled, and will be presided over by Information Minister M P Prakash.

Former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore and Goa Universities and noted historian Prof B Sheikh Ali, who has researched Tipu8217;s history, is to deliver the keynote.

Other scholars expected to attend the inaugural session of the two-day seminar are Anne Buddle, Registrar of National Galleries of Scotland and Christian Petr, dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Avignon, France.

As for the rest of the bicentenary programme, only time and the politics of expediency will decide its fate.