Days after inviting ‘activist’ Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stirred the hornet’s nest by calling Dusshera a ‘non-religious festival.’
For the unversed, the Opposition BJP in Karnataka had opposed the invite to the activist after Banu Mushtaq was heard questioning the Hindu practice of worshipping the Kannada language as ‘Goddess Bhuvaneshwari’.
Given that Vedic mantras are chanted and floral tributes are offered to Goddess Chamundeshwari during the Mysuru Dasara celebrations, the BJP had questioned the lack of reverence and Faith in the ‘activist’ invited to inaugurate the festival.
Siddaramaiah, as part of his Muslim appeasement politics, had deliberately invited a non-Hindu to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations.
In order to justify his decision, the Congress leader claimed, “Dussehra is a non-religious festival.Everyone celebrates the Dasara Naada festival.”
“Naada festival is festival for everyone. It is a festival for Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains. When the Maharaja was not in power, even Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan celebrated Dussehra. Mirza Ismail, who was the Diwan, celebrated Dussehra. This is a non-religious festival,” he brazened out.
