‘Dasara is not secular, it’s worship of goddess’: Pratap Simha fumes as Karnataka govt picks Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate event

Former MP Pratap Simmha has criticized the Karnataka government’s choice of writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Dasara festival. Simmha argued that Dasara is a religious celebration dedicated to Goddess Chamundeshwari, questioning the appropriateness of a Muslim individual inaugurating a festival rooted in Hindu devotion. He raised concerns about the ideological conflict, given Islamic beliefs regarding the divinity.