The controversy over Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq inaugurating official Dasara celebrations has refused to die down in Karnataka, with Deputy Chief Minister D Ok Shivakumar and Mysore-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Wadiyar of the BJP persevering with to spar over the difficulty on Wednesday.
The set off was Shivakumar’s comment that Chamundi Hill, the place the inauguration will happen, belonged to everybody and was not the property of Hindus alone. He made the remarks at a information convention on Tuesday whereas commenting on the BJP’s opposition to Mushtaq inaugurating the Dasara celebrations.
Yaduveer condemned the Congress chief’s remarks. “Chamundi Betta is a Shakti Peetha – sanctified by the Shastras and revered by crores of Hindus. The temple was, is, and can at all times stay Hindu property. The individuals of Karnataka respect each faith, however they may by no means tolerate the continual assault on Hindu festivals, traditions, and temples,” the MP posted on X on the identical day.
On Wednesday, Shivakumar wrote on X that Chamundeshwari was the state goddess and that folks from all castes and religions prayed to, believed in, and revered her. “She belongs to everybody and the individuals of the state. She shouldn’t be restricted to anybody,” he stated.
State pageant Dasara belonged to individuals of all faiths, Shivakumar stated, including that faith shouldn’t be politicised.
The BJP MP, who acknowledged that folks from all faiths have been devotees of the goddess, stated that Chamundeshwari was a Hindu deity.
“Dasara is the largest cultural occasion of the state. Folks from all religions can take part. However essentially it’s a Hindu pageant,” he stated on X.
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Taking a dig at Shivakumar for his remarks that the Gandhi household was his God, Yaduveer stated, “You have got turned a single household into your deity. Don’t dare to disclaim the Hindu identification of the Goddess and the spiritual custom of Dasara. We aren’t doing politics. Whenever you attacked our faith for the sake of appeasement politics, we stood as much as defend it.”
The BJP opposed the Congress Authorities’s resolution to have Banu Mushtaq inaugurate the Dasara celebrations. It raked up a 2023 video to allege that the Booker Prize-winning writer was in opposition to spiritual traditions, and demanded she declare her reverence and devotion to Chamundeshwari earlier than inaugurating the celebrations.