Prohibitory orders in Karnataka's Shivamogga over Savarkar poster row

Bengaluru: A row between two groups over installing flex of Hindutva icon V D Savarkar and 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan at Karanata's Shivamogga district has led to the tense situation in the area, forcing authorities to clamp prohibitory orders in the city, police said on Monday.

The police had to use batons to disperse the crowd and bring the situation under control. Officials installed the national flag at the spot where the poster was placed.

"We have imposed Section 144. Tension flared up and so we resorted to lathi-charge. We have tried to dismiss the crowd," said Laxmi Prasad, a senior police officer in the area.

Meanwhile, a person named Prem Singh in his mid-twenties was allegedly stabbed by unidentified miscreants here when he was on his way home after locking the shop, and police are inquiring to ascertain whether the incident has any links with the flex row, police sources said.

Singh is undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. The police said he is stable.

Celebrating Tipu Sultan has become controversial in the state, with the BJP and its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh dubbing him a brutal king who persecuted Hindus and Christians, especially those who refused to convert to Islam.

The erstwhile Congress government's decision to celebrate the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan was vehemently opposed by the locals in Coorg, where he had his kingdom.

The violence follows Sunday's controversy over an advertisement by the state's BJP government which omitted the photo of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and included Vinayak Savarkar.

As the BJP declared it was a deliberate decision, leaders of Congress alleged it was politically motivated. The party declared that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had done it to deflect attention from the leadership change issue and demanded that he be sacked.