Karnataka HC dismisses plea against inviting writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara

The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed petitions against the state government’s decision to invite writer and activist Banu Mushtaq, winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize, to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi said that it was “not persuaded to accept that a person from a different faith inaugurating a function organised by the state would violate a legal or constitutional right of the petitioners” or constitutional values.

Mysuru Dasara is a 10-day state festival that begins with the Hindu festival of Navratri and ends on Vijayadashami, or Dussehra. This year, the festivities start on September 22 and conclude on October 2.

A row had erupted in the state in August after Mushtaq was invited to inaugurate the celebrations.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had claimed that the Congress government in the state had chosen a woman from a community that did not believe in Hinduism, referring to Mushtaq being a Muslim.

Three petitions were also filed in the court, including one by BJP leader and former MP Prathap Simha, challenging the invitation to the writer, Live Law reported.

During the hearing on Monday, advocate S Sudharshan, representing one of the petitioners, referred to comments made by Mushtaq in a speech in 2023 that he claimed...

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