Why is India’s Worldwide Booker Prize winner on the centre of a political row?

[ad_1] Cherylann Mollan BBC Information, Mumbai

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/de2f/live/1c5a9f60-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Getty Images Winner of the International Booker Prize 2025 author Banu Mushtaq poses with the trophy during the award ceremony at Tate Modern in London, United Kingdom on May 20, 2025. The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Pictures Banu Mushtaq received the Worldwide Booker Prize for her quick story anthology Coronary heart Lamp

Worldwide Booker Prize winning-author Banu Mushtaq has discovered herself within the midst of an argument after she was invited to inaugurate a distinguished pageant within the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Final week, the state's Congress authorities introduced that Mushtaq - who received the Prize earlier this yr for her quick story anthology, Coronary heart Lamp - would inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities in Mysuru (previously referred to as Mysore).

Mysuru Dasara, additionally referred to as Naada Habba (which roughly interprets to pageant of the land in Kannada), is an annual 10-day occasion that has been celebrated for many years.

Hundreds of individuals flock to town to take part within the grand festivities, which embrace cultural performances, elephant parades, exhibitions and fireworks.

The choice to ask Mushtaq sparked criticism from some Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) leaders - which is within the opposition within the state - who stated that Mushtaq, a Karnataka-born Muslim, shouldn't be inaugurating a Hindu pageant.

Dussehra is a Hindu pageant which celebrates the victory of fine over evil, however Mysuru Dasara is performed by the Karnataka state authorities and other people of all faiths be a part of within the celebrations.

Mushtaq has stated that she was honoured to be invited to the pageant and that she felt deeply linked to it, having participated within the festivities herself as a toddler.

However regardless of her expressing respect for the pageant, the controversy has refused to die down.

Some BJP leaders have additionally taken offence to a few of Banu's earlier feedback associated to the Hindu goddess Bhuvaneshwari, who is taken into account to characterize Kannada language and identification.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a66d/live/a1fd4910-8495-11f0-9769-5712c986c989.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Thousands of electric bulbs add to the Stunning Lighting at Mysore Palace on the Occasion of Festival of Dusshera as seen on October 2, 2022. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Pictures The palace in Mysuru is lit up with hundreds of bulbs in the course of the 10-day pageant

Mushtaq made historical past earlier this yr when she turned the primary creator writing within the Kannada language to win an Worldwide Booker.

Her award winning-book, Coronary heart Lamp, which was translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, was praised by judges for showcasing characters that have been "astonishing portraits of survival and resilience".

Mushtaq's tales, together with in Coronary heart Lamp, concentrate on the challenges ladies, particularly Muslim ladies, face resulting from non secular conservatism and a deeply patriarchal society.

Curiously, she is not the primary Muslim individual to be invited to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara pageant. In 2017, KS Nisar Ahmed, a Kannada poet and creator, had been given the honour.

However the invitation to Mushtaq has come beneath scrutiny from the BJP.

BJP MP Yaduveer Wadiyar acknowledged Mushtaq's affect on Kannada writing, saying that her Booker win introduced "nice pleasure" to the Kannada literary fraternity.

Nonetheless, he added that the Mysuru Dasara pageant wasn't a cultural occasion however a Hindu non secular pageant and demanded that Mushtaq "make clear her reverence" in direction of the 2 Hindu dieties related to the pageant earlier than agreeing to inaugurate it.

BJP chief Pratap Simha stated that whereas it was okay for Mushtaq to chair literary festivals, it wasn't acceptable for her to be the chief visitor at an occasion like Mysuru Dasara. He additionally questioned if Mushtaq had religion within the pageant's goddesses and if she adopted Hindu traditions.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/231e/live/2c8a72b0-84a0-11f0-b319-ab41cfc9fe62.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Women Yakshagana artists perform during a cultural show to mark Dasara festivities on October 10, 2024 in Mysuru, Karnataka state, India." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Pictures Distinguished people artists put up performances in the course of the 10-day pageant

Amid the criticism, a video of a speech delivered by Mushtaq final January started circulating on-line.

In her speech, she questioned the apply of associating a Hindu deity (Bhuvaneshwari) with Kannada language and identification, declaring that it was exclusionary to her and different Muslims within the state.

Mushtaq is not the primary creator to view this blurring of identities via a vital lens. Many progressive writers from the state have criticised what they name a "Hinduisation" of the Kannada language and identification.

Supporters of the invitation to Mushtaq say that the row is not only about her non secular identification, however that it's a bigger battle between holding one of many state's greatest festivals open and welcoming to all faiths and turning it right into a majoritarian occasion.

"Mysuru Dasara is a secular pageant and welcoming Banu to inaugurate it is likely one of the greatest issues that may occur to Karnataka. Turning this into a difficulty about faith or Hindutva [Hindu nationalist agenda] is detestable," says Mamta Sagar, a Kannada poet.

In the meantime, Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has defended his authorities's choice to ask Mushtaq, highlighting the pageant's inclusive character.

Mushtaq too hasn't bowed all the way down to stress to say no the invite.

"Energetic politicians ought to have a way of what to politicise and what to not," she instructed The Hindu newspaper.

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Why is India’s Worldwide Booker Prize winner on the centre of a political row?

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