Author Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara in Karnataka; ‘Should declare faith in Goddess Chamundeshwari’, BJP questions move

Booker-winning author Banu Mushtaq chosen to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara 2025.

The Karnataka government’s choice of Booker Prize-winning author and activist Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate this year’s Mysuru Dasara celebrations has stirred a major controversy, with BJP leader Pratap Simha questioning why a Muslim will be invited to a religious event, India Today reported.

The author has refused to comment on the BJP leader's remark, but said she has been invited, and she would go.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday that Banu Mushtaq would inaugurate the world-famous festivities on September 22, with Vijaya Dashami being observed on October 2.

"Banu Musthaq, a writer from Hassan in Karnataka, will inaugurate the world-famous Dasara Mahotsav this year. The festivities will begin on September 22, and Vijaya Dashami will be observed on the 11th day, on October 2," he said.

"Banu Mushtaq's literary work 'Hrudaya Deepa' won the Booker Prize. It is a matter of pride and joy for us that a woman writer from Karnataka received this honour.

Banu Mushtaq was associated with farmers' organisations, Kannada agitations, and progressive movements. It is significant that a woman has been invited to inaugurate Dasara," CM Siddaramaiah said.

He added that he had personally spoken to her and that the district administration would soon issue a formal invitation with full state honours.

Mushtaq, who is 77 years old, recently scripted history by becoming the first Kannada author to win the International Booker Prize for her anthology of 12 short stories written over three decades, which capture the daily lives of Muslim women in southern India and deal with patriarchy and gender inequality.

However, the decision has not gone down well with some BJP leaders. Former MP Pratap Simha expressed reservations about having Mushtaq inaugurate what he called a religious festival.

"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," Simha was quoted by India Today as saying.

"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 said. "Does Banu Mushtaq believe in Goddess Chamundeshwari? And does she follow our rituals?" he added.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said, “I don't have an objection to anybody. However, Mysuru Dasara is an important religious festival of Karnataka, and we only expect that whoever is called to inaugurate and offer the first prayers make their belief in goddess Chamundeshwari public and clear.”

The Mysuru Dasara Mahotsava traditionally begins with the offering of prayers to Goddess Chamundeshwari in the Chamundi Hills, followed by ten days of cultural and religious events that culminate in Vijayadashami.