Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against Booker Prize Winner Banu Mushtaq Inaugurating Mysuru Dasara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bengaluru<\/strong>:The Supreme Court of India has rejected a petition challenging the Karnataka government’s decision to invite International Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the plea, upholding the Karnataka High Court’s earlier decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against Booker Prize Winner Banu Mushtaq Inaugurating Mysuru Dasara. Bengaluru:The Supreme Court of India has rejected a petition challenging the Karnataka government’s decision to invite International Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the plea, upholding the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-karnataka"],"yoast_head":"\n
The petition, filed by H.S. Gaurav, argued that inviting a non-Hindu to inaugurate the event at the Chamundeshwari Temple was against established Hindu religious and ceremonial practices, and infringed upon the religious rights of Hindus as protected by the Constitution. The petitioner’s counsel contended that while the overall Dasara festival is a state-sponsored secular event, the rituals and puja performed inside the temple premises were religious in nature and should not be conducted by a non-Hindu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the arguments, emphasizing the secular nature of the state-sponsored event. The bench asked the petitioner’s lawyer, “What is the preamble of this country?” and stressed that the state cannot differentiate between its subjects on the basis of religion. The court reiterated that the Dasara celebration is a state-organized program, not a private religious one, and therefore the state is not in a position to discriminate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling aligns with the Karnataka High Court’s order, which had stated that the participation of a person of one faith in the festival of another does not offend the rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The High Court had also noted that in the past, individuals of different faiths, such as poet K.S. Nissar Ahmed in 2017, had inaugurated the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision has cleared the way for Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the celebrated festival, which is scheduled to begin on September 22. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah welcomed the verdict, stating that it validates the government’s position that the Mysuru Dasara festival transcends religious boundaries and is a celebration for all people of the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"