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 were anti-Kannada.

However, the court said that the comments were Mushtaq’s opinions. “Are you saying in this country people cannot voice their opinion?” Live Law quoted the bench as saying. “You tell us what is your constitutional right?”

Sudharshan also alleged that Dasara was predominantly a Hindu celebration. Only a person “having Hindu faith” could be invited to the inauguration, he claimed, adding that “per se public opinion is how could a person of other faith be invited”.

In response, the court said: “This is a decision by public representatives, and it will be addressed.”

The advocate also said that prominence was given to images and idols in the Hindu culture. Mushtaq has “no faith with vermilion and turmeric”, Sudharshan added.

“This is a secular state,” the court said in response.

Meanwhile, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, representing the state government, told the court that Mushtaq was an International Booker Prize winner. “People of all religions participate in this [Mysuru Dasara] function,” he said. “This is a festival of the state.”

In May, Heart Lamp, Mushtaq’s collection of Kannada short stories translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, became the first Kannada book and the second from India and South Asia to win the International Booker Prize. It was also the first collection of short stories to receive the award.

The advocate general said that the committee to invite a chief guest for the event comprised 62 persons of high standing, including MPs and MLAs belonging to all parties.

“It is quite hurting to say that she [Mushtaq] is anti-Hindu,” Live Law quoted Shetty as saying. “Such statements cannot be made. Ultimately, this kind of feelings about/against Hindu-Muslim such fears should be nipped in the bud.”

The advocate general also told the court that Simha had earlier shared a stage with a Muslim invitee.

“In 2017, [poet and writer] Dr Nisar Ahmed was invited and petitioner Simha had participated in the celebration then as MP,” Live Law quoted Shetty as telling the bench. “It is a state function and reducing it to religious function cannot be allowed.”

Sudharsan, however, said that Ahmed had written poems for the Hindu deity Krishna and had also not made any anti-Kannada statements.

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