BJP leaders question Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq inaugurating Dasara festival

Bengaluru | Senior BJP leaders and an MLA expelled from the saffron party on Monday questioned the Karnataka government's decision to have Booker Prize-winning author and activist Banu Mushtaq inaugurate the world-famous Mysuru Dasara festivities this year.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently announced that Mushtaq would inaugurate the Nada Habba (state festival) Dasara celebrations in Mysuru, which traditionally begin with rituals at the Chamundi Hill temple.

Bengaluru South MP and Bharatiya Janayat Yuva Morcha national president Tejasvi Surya targeted Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for selecting her to inaugurate the Dasara festivities.

In a post on ‘X’, Surya said, "The so-called Anti-Communal Task Force, the Hate Speech Bill, the Rohith Vemula Bill pushed at Rahul Gandhi’s insistence, the dubious Dharmasthala SIT, and now the Congress government’s decision to have Smt. Banu Mustaq - who has openly expressed her opposition to the worship of Kannada as mother Bhuvaneshwari, objected to the Hindu cultural symbolism associated with the Kannada flag - inaugurate the sacred Dasara Chamundeshwari Pooja - all these are not isolated moves."

"They are part of a single, well-orchestrated game plan scripted by urban naxals and Marxists, executed with the full enthusiasm of Siddaramaiah and the Congress state government. We must see through this design and resist it with all our strength," he added.

The MP posted Mushtaq’s video clip on his social media handle where she is heard opposing the alleged personification of Kannada language as a 'Goddess Bhuvaneshwari' who is seated in a throne inside a temple.

"I don’t know whether it will please or displease you but as a woman from the minority community, I will present before you my understanding about the Kannada language. You did not give an opportunity for Kannada to grow as a language, for Banu Mushtaq or her family to speak Kannada as a language," she is heard saying in a purported video in 2023.

She said, "You turned Kannada (language) into ‘Kannada Bhuvaneshwari’. You presented her in yellow and red colours – the turmeric (Haldi) and vermillion (Kumkum)... Where should I stand? What should I see? How can I involve there? The process of keeping me outside did not start today but long ago..."

The Kannada author asked the audience to ponder on this topic "because Yatra Naryastu Poojyante Ramante Tatra Devata (God resides where women are worshipped). God will be pleased if women are seated in a throne."

"The way you trample, commit atrocities and inflict violence on women, here also you are committing similar atrocities on ‘Kannada Amma’ by seating her on a throne inside a temple. You are answerable to me," Mushtaq is heard saying.

"What have you done by personifying Kannada as ‘Goddess Bhuvaneshwari’, dragging her chariot and organising a fair for her? Did you require such a deceit to keep me outside?" the literatteur said in the video.

Mushtaq got the Booker Prize for the book ‘Heart Lamp: Selected Stories’, the English translation of her Kannada book ‘Edeya Hanate’ in May 2025.

Former minister and BJP MLC C T Ravi said it is inappropriate for a person whose faith is uncertain to preside over a religious ceremony.

Former Mysuru MP Pratap Simha said that she can preside over a literary event but not Dasara.

MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who was expelled from BJP, who represents Vijayapura, said in a post on 'X', "I personally hold respect for Banu Mushtaq madam as a writer and activist. However, her inaugurating Dasara by offering flowers and lighting the lamp to Goddess Chamundeshwari seems to be in conflict with her own religious beliefs."

He said, "Madam needs to clarify whether she continues to follow Islam, which emphasizes belief in only one God and one holy book, or whether she now believes that all paths ultimately lead to the same moksha".

The scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family and Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Vadiyar said there is no difference between his and his party’s stand on the issue.

"I have no objection from the government’s secular point of view, but Dasara involves specific religious event. Even today, the event starts with obeisance to Goddess Chamundeshwari. In this context, they (government) should invite those who do not hurt religious sentiments," Vadiyar told reporters in Mysuru.

Vadiyar alleged that the Congress had invited people who had insulted the Indian traditions, such as Girish Karnad and Professor Nisar Ahmed.

BJP state chief B Y Vijayendra said, "If Mushtaq has a belief in Hindu culture and traditions, then we will welcome her."

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje warned that the author should not climb Chamundi Hills, alleging that she had insulted Goddess Bhuvaneshwari.

Karnataka Ministers G Parameshwara and H C Mahadevappa said there was nothing wrong in inviting Mushtaq since Dasara is a state festival.

"Did Nisar Ahmed inaugurate Dasara festivities? We don’t see caste and religion during state festival," Parameshwara told reporters in Mysuru.