Banu Mushtaq inaugurating Dasara is right decision, people have accepted it: Siddaramaiah
Mysuru, Sep 22 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday strongly defended his government's decision to invite International Booker Prize winner writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara, and said majority people of the state have accepted it, and it has brought respect for the state.
He said Dasara is not a festival of any one religion or caste, it is a festival of all. It is "Nada Habba" (state festival), the festival of the people.
The famous 11-day Dasara celebrations commenced in this city of palaces on Monday amid religious and traditional fervour, with Mushtaq inaugurating it.
The inauguration took place amid controversy, with objections from some sections against the government's decision to invite Mushtaq.
"Banu Mushtaq may be a Muslim woman by birth, but she is a human being first. Humans should love and respect each other and there should be no hate based on one's caste and religion, as it is not the characteristic of humanity," Siddaramaiah said.
Addressing the gathering after the inauguration of Mysuru Dasara, he said, "If we accept humanity, we should accept people belonging to any caste, religion or class --participating in the celebration of Nada Habba. Majority of the people of this state have accepted Banu Mushtaq inaugurating Dasara."
"Banu Mushtaq inaugurating Dasara this year is a right decision and it is something that has brought respect for Karnataka. So I congratulate Mushtaq on behalf of the people and the government," he added.
Pointing out that the High Court and Supreme Court have taught proper lessons to those who approached them opposing the government's invitation to Mushtaq to inaugurate Dasara, the CM said, courts have asked them to read the preamble of the Constitution.
"Everyone should understand that our Constitution is secular. We are a society where there is unity in diversity, irrespective of our religion and castes, we are all Indians. Those who are opposed to the Constitution try to distort it, such people are selfish," he said.
Appreciating Mushtaq's inaugural address, Siddaramaiah said, even he cannot speak like her.
"She has spoken aptly and meaningfully in the given situation, being a poet, writer and the inaugurator. I hope everyone has understood her message. Probably she has opened the eyes of even those who opposed her, even those who opposed her are happy internally," he said, as he lauded her work being part of a farmer organisation, as an activist, Kannada writer and poet.
The controversy opposing the government's decision to invite her, stems from allegations that Mushtaq has made statements in the past that are perceived by some as "anti-Hindu" and "anti Kannada".
Critics argue that her selection for the festival, which traditionally begins with Vedic rituals and floral offerings to Goddess Chamundeshwari, disrespects religious sentiments and long-standing traditions associated with the event.
Objections have been raised by BJP leaders and others to the state government's decision to invite Mushtaq to inaugurate the Dasara festivities, following an old video that went viral, in which she has reportedly expressed reservations about worshipping the Kannada language as "Goddess Bhuvaneshwari", stating that it was exclusionary to people like her (minorities).
Several BJP leaders had asked Mushtaq to clarify her reverence towards Goddess Chamundeshwari before consenting to inaugurate the Dasara. However, Mushtaq, on her part, has said that her statement has been distorted by making selective parts of her old speech go viral on social media.
Noting that Dasara celebration was started by kings of the Vijayanagara empire and after its collapse, Mysuru kings under Raja Wadiyar I started celebrating it in 1610 started, the CM said, Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan too celebrated Dasara during their rule over Mysuru in Srirangapatna.
He said, "People should know the history. By distorting history, doing things for the sake of selfishness and politics is an unpardonable offence. Whoever it is, no one should do politics in such matters. If you want to do politics, do it during the election. Unnecessarily, politics should not be done out of hate or to appease someone."
The Dasara festival this year will be an eleven-day grand event. There have been good rains this year, dams are filled and people of the state are happy, Siddaramaiah said.
He also listed out the success of his government's five guarantee schemes.
"The Karnataka government believes in secularism and equal rights and opportunities for all," he added.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
