The Political Tug-of-War Over Banu Mushtaq Inaugurating Mysuru Dasara

Mysuru Dasara, a celebration that transcends mere ritual, is Karnataka’s carnival of culture, art and civic pride, steeped in centuries of history and tradition. Its history, from the Wodeyars to Mirza Ismail to successive governments, is a testament to its inclusivity, with festival inaugurators drawn from diverse faiths, uniting the people of Karnataka in a shared celebration.

But this year, what should have been a proud cultural moment for Karnataka has spiralled into a political storm. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government’s decision to invite Booker Prize-winning Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the world-famous Mysuru Dasara celebrations this year has resulted in a tug-of-war between Karnataka’s secular traditions and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s communal politics.

On August 22, CM Siddaramaiah announced that Mushtaq—a writer, lawyer, and activist from Hassan, Karnataka, who won the 2025 International Booker Prize for 'Heart Lamp', her collection of short stories—would open the festivities. The CM underlined that a writer from Karnataka winning the Booker was a matter of pride for the entire state, and that having such a distinguished woman inaugurate Dasara marked a historic milestone.

Mushtaq accepted with grace, describing Dasara as a festival for everyone and emphasising her deep cultural connection to it. She recalled attending the famed Jambu Savari elephant parade as a child with her parents. She said that calling Goddess Chamundeshwari “mother” and referring to the festival as Naada Habba were both integral to Karnataka’s culture, which she valued as much as anyone else.

But former Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, MPs Tejasvi Surya and Shobha Karandlaje, and state BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra were quick to air their objections to the government's choice. Expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal demanded that Mushtaq clarify “whether she continues to follow Islam or whether she now believes all paths lead to moksha.” 

Yaduveer Wadiyar, the Mysuru scion and current BJP Lok Sabha MP, praised Mushtaq’s literary achievements but insisted that Dasara was a “Hindu Dharma Utsava” rooted in the Shastras and the Puranas, and urged her to explicitly declare reverence for goddesses Chamundeshwari and Bhuvaneshwari.

The trigger for this communal backlash was not just Mushtaq’s Muslim identity but also a speech she delivered in January 2023 at the Jana Sahitya Sammelana, an alternative literary festival in Bengaluru. There, she critiqued the portrayal of Kannada as goddess Bhuvaneshwari and the use of Hindu ritual symbols like turmeric and vermillion for the Kannada flag. 

“You made the Kannada language Kannada Bhuvaneshwari, you gave the flag arishina and kumkuma and placed her on a pedestal. Where does that leave me? My exclusion started long ago and is being completed now,” she had said, arguing that deifying Kannada in this way excludes minorities, Buddhists, Jains, and others who do not worship idols. Right-wing social media handles revived this excerpt to brand her “anti-Kannada.” 

Congress Defends the Secular Spirit

The Congress has stood its ground. Home Minister G. Parameshwara reminded critics that Dasara is not just a Hindu festival but a state festival organised by the government. Minister H.K. Patil said it was “unfortunate that some people are playing politics over a state festival.” Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain stressed that Mushtaq was a progressive literary figure and that opposition to her inaugurating the festivities was based only on her religion.

Writers and cultural figures rallied to defend the Karnataka government’s decision. Kannada critic Rahamat Tarikere pointed out that Mushtaq was not the first Muslim to be honoured with a central role in Dasara. In 2017, the late poet K.S. Nissar Ahmed inaugurated the festivities by showering flowers on goddess Chamundeshwari. In the 1930s and 1940s, Diwan Sir Mirza Ismail, a Muslim administrator under the Wodeyars, expanded Dasara’s scope into an industrial and cultural exhibition that shaped its modern character. 

 “If Nissar Ahmed could inaugurate it, why not Banu? This is a step towards making Naada Habba more secular and inclusive,”  Professor Purushotham Bilimale, eminent writer and chairman of the Kannada Development Authority, told Outlook. He noted that Mushtaq was more vulnerable than Ahmed, not only because she is Muslim but also because she is a woman and an anti-establishment voice, which makes the backlash harsher. “In Ahmed’s case, he wrote many poems praising Hindu deities. Mushtaq has already expressed reverence for Chamundeshwari. No government function can discriminate on the basis of religion, language, caste, or culture, because the Constitution itself forbids it,” Bilimale said.

Dasara 2025: Grandeur and Scale

This year’s Dasara will run from September 22 to October 2, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti. It begins with Gajapayana, the ceremonial elephant march into Mysuru, followed by Navaratri rituals at Chamundi Hills. The historic Mysore Palace will be lit up for 22 days, with illumination extended to churches and mosques as a symbol of harmony.

Highlights include the grand Jambu Savari on Vijayadashami, with the idol of Chamundeshwari carried in a golden howdah on an elephant through streets thronged by lakhs of spectators. Cultural programmes, wrestling bouts, exhibitions, food and flower festivals, the Yuva Sambrama for youth, and an Indian Air Force air show will add to the spectacle. 

A Festival Reinvented

Unlike Dussehra in North India, where Ravana effigies are burned, or in Bengal, where it centres on Durga Puja, Mysuru Dasara is unique. Rooted in the Wodeyar dynasty’s adoption of Vijayanagara traditions, it has long blended Chamundeshwari worship with royal pageantry and secular cultural performances. For the Mysore kings, it was as much a display of state power and legitimacy as it was a religious event. When colonial rule curtailed royal authority, Dasara became a marker of cultural identity. After Independence, the Karnataka government reinvented it as Naada Habba, the festival of the land—an inclusive celebration that cuts across religion and caste.

Talking to Outlook, veteran Kannada writer K.S. Bhagawan noted that Mysuru Dasara stands apart because it is as much about literature, music, food, and exhibitions as about devotion. He stressed that inviting a woman writer of Mushtaq’s stature should be seen as cultural advancement. “The state is bound by the Constitution, which does not allow discrimination. Inviting her is a progressive step forward,” he said.

Kannada, Bhuvaneshwari and Identity Politics

The controversy has also reignited debate about Kannada identity. The association of goddess Bhuvaneshwari with the Kannada language emerged only in the 20th century. Influenced by Marathi nationalism and Tilak’s Hinduised symbols, Kannada activists in the 1930s adopted mother goddess imagery, saffron colour and invoked the Vijayanagara Empire as a Hindu Kannada kingdom resisting Muslim Bahamanis. Kuvempu’s state anthem, 'Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate', reflected this imagery.

But progressive writers, especially from the Bandaya movement, critiqued this as exclusionary. Representing a language as a goddess, they argued, alienates those who do not worship idols. Bilimale warned that such Hinduisation risks giving Kannada identity a communal colour. Today, a 25-foot statue of goddess Bhuvaneshwari at Vidhana Soudha testifies to this intertwining of language and the deity. Mushtaq’s critique was therefore not isolated but part of a long-standing progressive tradition in Kannada literature.

Mysuru’s Plural Cultural Fabric

That this debate arises in Mysuru is ironic, given the city’s rich multicultural heritage. Celebrated as Karnataka’s cultural capital, Mysuru has nurtured Carnatic music, Urdu poetry, yoga traditions, colonial architecture and silk weaving. The Wodeyars patronised Hindu temples and Christian churches alike, and supported both Sanskrit scholars and Urdu poets.

The Dasara procession is a tableau of this diversity—folk dances, tribal art, tableaux of freedom fighters, and, in recent years, performances by Urdu schools. Historian and writer O.K. Johnny, author of 'Kaveri Teerada Payana', recalled being drawn to the festival from childhood because of its inclusive nature. “It was never a festival of Hindus alone,” he said. “It is Naada Habba, the state’s festival, which has long attracted South Indians across communities. Religious minorities should take part in it.”

Tarikere noted that the Wodeyars themselves communicated with their subjects in both Kannada and Urdu, respecting multiple identities. In recent years, the illumination committee has extended the lighting of Dasara to mosques and churches, further underlining its inclusivity.

At its core, Mysuru Dasara is not merely a religious ritual but a state-sponsored cultural extravaganza—funded by taxpayers, organised by the elected government, and enjoyed by people of every faith. The only precondition for inaugurating it, as writers point out, is belief in the Indian Constitution, not in any one deity.

This is why attempts to communalise the event ring hollow. Karnataka’s history shows that Dasara has constantly evolved—royal, colonial, state-run—and always embraced plural participation. The choice of Banu Mushtaq is consistent with that legacy.

But some right-wing writers and cultural activists are now giving fresh twists to the controversy. Speaking to Outlook, noted Kannada writer and theatre personality Addanda C. Cariappa alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had “dubious motives” in choosing Banu Mushtaq. “The Booker Prize was not for the Kannada original,” he said. “It was for the English translation done by Hindu woman and journalist Deepa Bhasthi. Why did the Chief Minister not invite her for the inaugural? Religion is the issue.”

The Battle for Karnataka’s Cultural Soul

The controversy over Mushtaq is ultimately about more than one woman lighting a ceremonial lamp before Goddess Chamundeshwari. It is about whether Karnataka’s most iconic festival will continue to embody pluralism or be recast as a Hindu majoritarian spectacle. For the Congress, standing by her reaffirms Karnataka’s secular identity. For the BJP, opposing her is a chance to stoke communal polarisation.

Eminent Kannada writer Devanuru Mahadeva, winner of the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award, told Outlook, 

“No communal or casteist force can alter the secular and inclusive character of Mysuru Dasara. The festival has always been a powerful symbol of human unity, never one that divided people on communal or caste lines. By maintaining its inclusive spirit and inviting the right author to inaugurate, the state government has upheld the dignity of Dasara. We will resist any attempt to reduce it to a purely religious event.”