Row over Banu Mushtaq's 2023 speech on Kannada deity

Bengaluru: Pushback intensified Monday against the Congress government’s decision to invite Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara festivities after a video went viral in which she criticised the worship of the Kannada language in the form of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari.

At the 2023 Jana Sahitya Sammelana, Banu Mushtaq had said the appropriation of Kannada as Goddess Bhuvaneshwari draped in yellow and red, the colours of turmeric and vermilion, was “exclusionary” to people like her (minorities). 

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra asked Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara only after accepting the Sanatana culture and rituals. 

“The Sanatana Dharma includes idol worship and offering prayers to the deity. Do you agree with that? If you agree, then make your stand public and inaugurate the Dasara festivities,” he said. 

Vijayendra also took exception to Siddaramaiah’s decision to invite only Banu Mushtaq and ignore translator Deepa Basthi. 

Hindutva proponent Chakravarthy Sulibele asked how Banu Mushtaq agreed to “bow down before Chamundeshwari’s grandeur when she cannot tolerate Kannada Bhuvaneshwari”. 

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya claimed that there was a bigger “game plan” behind having Banu Mushtaq inaugurate Dasara. 

“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 Mushtaq - 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,” Surya said in a tweet. 

“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,” Surya said.

Social Welfare Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa defended the government’s decision.

“Banu Mushtaq has made the entire country proud by winning the Booker Prize. The Constitution says all are equal. We believe in the Constitution,” he said. 

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil pointed out that the Mysuru Dasara was a cultural event and not a religious one. “The government’s decision to have Banu Mushtaq inaugurate the festival is widely acceptable. It needn’t be politicised,” he said.

‘I have respect for Mother Chamundi’

Amid the controversy over the naming of International Booker Prize–winning Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq for inaugurating Dasara—with a few BJP leaders and others opposing it citing her faith—the writer has clarified saying “I have respect for Mother Chamundeshwari.” After receiving a bagina (a traditional offering) from Shashikala founder of the Bengaluru-based Ammana Madilu organisation Banu Mushtaq said “Terming Dasara a state festival and referring to Mother Chamundeshwari with love and affection is a part of our culture. That’s why it is dear to me as well.” “People call her Mother Chamundeshwari. I respect the people’s sentiment. Many call the Dasara festival a Naada Habba (state festival) and I respect that too” the writer said. “Dasara is a festival in which I have also participated earlier with love. I used to go with my parents many times to watch the Jamboo Savari of Mysuru Dasara. Now I am happy that I have been invited to inaugurate the festival” she added.

Yaduveer seeks ‘clarification’

Mysore-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has sought Banu Mushtaq to clarify on her reverence towards Tayi Bhuvaneshwari and Tayi Chamundeshwari. “Smt. Bhanu Mushtaq is a distinguished writer in her own right and as the first Kannada author to win the Booker Prize she has brought great pride to the Kannada literary fraternity. However it has come to our notice that she has made certain past remarks regarding Tayi Bhuvaneshwari. We wish to firmly reiterate that Dasara is not merely a cultural event but a Hindu Dharmic Utsava - rooted in the Shastra & Puranas and celebrated with grandeur since the days of the Vijayanagara Samrajya and the Mysuru Samsthana. Given this sacred legacy it is only appropriate that Smt. Mushtaq clarify her reverence towards Tayi Bhuvaneshwari and Tayi Chamundeshwari before consenting to preside as Chief Guest of this year’s Dasara celebrations” Yaduveer said in his post on social media platform X. Earlier in the day Yaduveer a descendant of the Wadiyar dynasty had said that the issue is resolved if Banu Mushtaq says that she respects Mother Chamundi. He also said that writer Deepa Basti who translated Banu Mushtaq’s work should also be invited to inaugurate the Dasara festivities.