K'taka: BJP, Cong spar over inviting Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq for Dussehra inauguration

Bengaluru, Aug 25 (IANS) The BJP and Congress led government in Karnataka have taken opposition positions with regard to inauguration of the Dussehra festivities by Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq.

The BJP has questioned whether Banu Mushtaq will accept Hindu culture, traditions and practices. The Congress led government has maintained that whether she believes or not is not a question and she is being invited to inaugurate the festival of the land.

Speaking to the media at the BJP state office, Jagannath Bhavan, on Monday, BJP state president and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra, reacting to the announcement by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to invite Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the historical Mysuru Dussehra festival, said: “If Banu Mushtaq accepts our Hindu culture, traditions, and practices and shows faith in them, we will welcome her.”

Vijayendra said: “Both Banu Mushtaq and translator Kodagu’s Deepa Bhasthi have received the International Booker Prize. The state government should have invited Deepa Bhasthi from Kodagu along with Banu Mushtaq for the inauguration of Dussehra celebrations. Does Siddaramaiah have little interest in Kodagu?”

He further remarked: “In such matters, Deepa Bhasthi could have been paired with Banu Mushtaq.”

"As a writer, we do respect her. But, if she accepted our traditions, rituals or religious sentiments, it would have been different issue. Earlier, author Nisar Ahmad had inaugurated Dussehra," he stated.

Reacting to the controversy, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara said, "Hasn’t this been done earlier? Nisar Ahmad had inaugurated the Dussehra. Sir Mirza Ismail had served as the Diwan of Mysuru. We don’t look at religion or caste while celebrating the festival of the land. Such a development is not good."

When asked about BJP leaders’ claims that the Dussehra festivity is a Hindu religious ceremony and not a secular one, he stated, "You might consider it a religious event, but this is ‘Nada Habba', a festival of the land. It has been celebrated for a long time. Why are you bringing religious matters into this? Will you celebrate the festival by keeping one section of society out?"

When questioned about whether Banu Mushtaq believes in Goddess Chamundeshwari, he responded: "It doesn’t matter whether she has faith or not. This is a festival of the land, and we will invite everyone."

Meanwhile, the BJP has shared a 2.5-minute-long video of Banu Mushtaq recorded in 2023, in which she states that the Kannada people have never allowed her or her family to speak the Kannada language by equating the language to a Goddess.

Addressing a gathering in the video, she says: "Kannada language has been compared to goddess Kannada Bhuvaneshwari. You created a state flag with yellow and red colors representing haldi and sindoor. Where should I stand? What should I look for? How should I be involved? The process of keeping me away is not a recent phenomenon—it started long ago. People need to reflect on this."

She further adds: "The people are committing excesses against me in this regard, and you are answerable to me. By equating the Kannada language to Goddess Bhuvaneshwari and by pulling the chariot of Kannada, what have you achieved? Is this conspiracy necessary to keep me away?"

The development is likely to trigger further controversy.

--IANS

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