Momentous: Kannada writers hail Banu Mushtaq’s Booker win

Writers and literature buffs from across Karnataka are celebrating the International Booker Prize honour for Banu Mushtaq’s ‘Heart Lamp: Selected Stories’.

Translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, it became the first Kannada work to win the prestigious international prize.

Banu hails from Hassan in Karnataka and has established a formidable reputation as a short story writer representing the experiences of Muslim women in contemporary Kannada literature.

Born in 1948, Banu works as a lawyer. She is also known for her work as an activist and journalist speaking out against oppression in the name of caste and religion. She participated in the Bandaya (protest) literary movement, and was among those in the forefront of the Gokak agitation, demanding primacy for Kannada in education, and the farmers’ agitation of the ’80s.

‘Heart Lamp: Selected Stories’ is a collection of 12 short stories.

“There are many great writers from the Muslim community, like Ismat Chugtai, who received the Jnanpith. The Karnataka chapter of Muslim women writers will get pan-Indian recognition with this award,” well-known writer Rahmat Tarikere told DH.

“Most Muslim women writers have written mostly in Urdu, a language with a presence across India. But Kannada literature is confined to Karnataka and this recognition will introduce Banu, her sensibility, and the life of Muslim women from Karnataka to India and the world,” he says.

“Banu looks at conventional Muslim society from a woman’s lens. While her stories reflect her love and respect for Muslim culture, she also looks critically at how fundamentalism leads to subjugation,” says Tarikere, author of several widely read books in Kannada.

Women’s rights activist and writer Dr H S Anupama describes Banu as one of the greatest contemporary Kannada writers. “She represents women, minority women, and Karnataka culture. With this award, I feel proud that Karnataka will be recognised by the world,” she says.

Anupama says that writers are always the voice of the voiceless. “Many women in India, especially among the minorities, face patriarchy from within the community and prejudice from outside the community. So their freedom of expression is always curbed. When a writer like Banu, who is open and free spirited, wins an international honour, it empowers Muslim women. She joins the likes of Mukhtar Mai, Malala Yousafzai and Shirin Ebadi,” she says.

Writer, publisher and activist Vasudhendra says Banu had made not just Karnataka but all of India proud. “Although we have many Muslim men writing extensively in Kannada, they are not very courageous in criticising their own religion. They play safe. But Muslim women have written critically about their religion. Sara (Abubakar) and Banu are daring women writers,” he says.

“Banu has always worked towards a progressive society,” says Du Saraswathi writer, theatre person and Dalit activist.

“Through her stories, she presented a whole new world to her readers, and it wasn’t a romantic world. She held a mirror to the harsh realities of Muslim women,” she says, recalling the stories Banu wrote for the Kannada weekly Lankesh Patrike.

Banu had to face many threats for raising her voice against oppression. She faced them boldly. In today’s era of hate politics, her writings and reflections are more relevant than ever before, Saraswathi says.

Once a work is translated to English, it catches the attention of other Indian languages as well, says Vasudhendra. “Today, even to move from Kannada to Telugu, we need an English bridge. This recognition helps Kannada literature gain recognition at the global level,” he told DH.