Days after the Karnataka government announced that Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq would inaugurate Mysuru Dasara celebrations, the Udupi district police Saturday registered two separate cases against two people for allegedly posting communal and provocative content on social media.
The first case emerged when Santosh Kulal from Kollur police station’s social media monitoring Cell noticed a Facebook post by one Jagadish Udupa at 7 pm Friday. Udupa’s post questioned the government’s choice, stating it was “wrong to insult the great Hindu religion just to please one community” and issued warnings about potential consequences. The police said the message was provocative and capable of disrupting communal harmony.
In another incident, Sub Inspector Sundar of the Karkala Rural police station, while monitoring social media at 5 pm the same day, found a Facebook post citing the religion of Mushtaq.
The Facebook page ‘Sudeep Shetty Nitte’ featured a post criticising the decision to invite her, arguing that “Dasara is a Hindu cultural festival with events conducted according to Hindu traditions” and questioned why someone who “does not accept or practice Sanatana Hindu culture” should inaugurate it. The post further accused the “anti-Hindu Congress” of actions that “hurt Hindu sentiments”.
The police registered the cases under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 353(2) [create, publish, or circulate false information or alarming news which is likely to create feelings of enmity or hatred between religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities].
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Friday announced that Mushtaq would inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara 2025 celebrations.
“Banu Mushtaq has come from the background of struggle for various causes, she has worked in the Raita Sangha, Kannada Chaluvali. She is a progressive thinker. Such a woman has been invited for Dasara inauguration. I have spoken to her,” he said.
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In May, Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize for her short story collection ‘Heart Lamp’, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasth. This was the first time a collection of short stories had won the prize. It also marked the first time a book originally written in Kannada received this honour. ‘Heart Lamp’ is a collection of 12 short stories written by Mushtaq between 1990 and 2023.