Overview

• Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s government has confirmed that International Booker winner Banu Mushtaq will inaugurate Mysuru Dasara at Chamundi Hill on September 22, and she has accepted.
• On August 27, Mushtaq said the invitation offers her a chance to fulfill a vow to visit the temple and reiterated her respect for the festival and Goddess Chamundeshwari.
• Senior BJP leaders, including C T Ravi, Pratap Simha, B Y Vijayendra and MP Yaduveer Wadiyar, questioned her suitability for performing inaugural rituals and sought a clear statement on her beliefs.
• Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar and Home Minister G. Parameshwara defended the decision as a ‘festival of the land’ choice, noting precedent such as poet K. S. Nissar Ahmad inaugurating in 2017.
• Udupi police registered two cases over communal social-media posts as a 2023 video of Mushtaq questioning the deification of the Kannada language resurfaced online.