Bangalore: The BJP has threatened an agitation if the Haj Bhavan in Bangalore is renamed as Hazrat Tipu Sultan Haj Ghar, as proposed by many Muslim clerics and community leaders.

"The (former) BJP government had given Rs 50 crore to build the Haj Bhavan but this government wants to name it after Tipu Sultan, whose name has already created a lot of tension because the previous government insisted on celebrating his birthday," BJP leader and former home minister R. Ashoka said on Friday.

State waqf minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan had earlier in the day clarified that the government had not yet decided the matter. "I will take a call only after consulting the chief minister," Khan said.

Ashoka said the Haj Bhavan - opened in 2016 to accommodate and help pilgrims heading to Mecca and Madina - didn't belong to "Tipu fans" alone.

"It belongs to all Muslims, not just Tipu fans. So it's wrong to rename it after Tipu," he said.

"Tipu Sultan was not a freedom fighter but a king who killed and converted a large number of Hindus. So let's not create another controversy."

Tipu is revered in most parts of Karnataka but not in the hill district of Kodagu or coastal city Mangalore, where people accuse him of atrocities and mass conversions.

The Congress government has been celebrating Tipu's birth anniversary on November 10 from 2015, prompting widespread protests by the BJP and its allies every year.

A Bangalore-based maulana, who didn't wish to be identified, told The Telegraph that many religious teachers wanted the Haj Bhavan renamed after Tipu and that this was an old proposal.

"Those who want the name changed have their own reasons, as Tipu was a great king. But we have also to consider the benefits of merely changing a name and not changing our working style," he said.

"There's no harm in renaming it after Tipu ---- all that matters is how much work we all can do for the welfare of the pilgrims and the poor."

Sardar Qureshi, president of the Tipu United Front, a social organisation, said he was among those who had sought the renaming "because of his (Tipu's) massive contribution in all fields."

M.J. Ali, general secretary of the Karnataka Waqf Protection Joint Action Committee that identifies and reports encroachments on waqf properties, said he too had suggested the renaming.

"We failed to name the airport or the city railway station after Tipu. At least allow us the freedom to choose the name of our Haj Bhavan," he said.