Siddaramaiah stirs row inviting Muslim author to inaugurate Dussehra celebrations in Mysuru

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah last Friday announced Mushtaq, a writer from Hasaan in Karnataka, will inaugurate the Dasara festival in 2025. 

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pratap Simha has questioned how a Muslim author has been asked to inaugurate the festival, which is not a secular event.

Simha told the media as quoted by NDTV, "I am definitely not raising this objection because you are a Muslim, we also have respect for your achievements, you have made contributions to literature, you have also won the Booker Prize, we all in Karnataka and india respect, love and take pride in it, but the Dasara celebration is not a secular event, it's a religious celebration, we don't have any objections to personal beliefs of Banu mushtaq, but Dasara is 100 per cent a reflection of our religion, it's our festival."

"This tradition in Mysuru has been going on since the time of the Vijayanagara empire. Even today, rituals are carried out in the Mysuru palace.

"Since we are now a democracy, the state government organises Dasara, but it's not an indicator of secularism; it's a religious event that involves offering pooja to goddess Chamundeshwari," the BJP leader added.

"Does Banu Mushtaq believe in Goddess Chamundeshwari? And does she follow our rituals?"

Earlier this year, Banu Mushtaq became the first Indian author writing in Kannada to win the prestigious International Booker Prize, taking regional Indian literature to the global stage

Her award-winning work, Heart Lamp, is a collection of twelve short stories translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi.

Originally published in the Kannada language between 1990 and 2023, Banu Mushtaq’s portraits of family and community tensions testify to her years tirelessly championing women’s rights and protesting all forms of caste and religious oppression.