Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq responds to opposition over Dasara inauguration
Hassan: Writer and Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq has reacted to the criticism that emerged after her name was announced for inaugurating this year’s Mysuru Dasara festivities.
Speaking to the media at her residence, she said, “I don’t wish to speak much on this matter. The love and affection shown by crores of Kannadigas is more than enough. There is no need to respond to the negativity of one or two people. Politicians must take responsibility for what should be politicised and what should not.”
She reminded that the Booker Prize is not something that comes easily and should not be belittled. “I have introduced Kannada to an international stage. People there are amazed when they read even a single page in Kannada. After achieving so much, nobody has the right to throw mud at me,” she stated.
On her bond with the language, she said, “I don’t treat Kannada as a deity, I use it as the language of life. I made all my three daughters study in Kannada medium schools. My connection with Kannada is unquestionable.”
Responding to the criticism, she added, “Some people have twisted what I had said during the 2023 Janasahitya Sammelana. I have always raised my voice for minorities, women, and Dalits. That is now being used against me. But who has loved Kannada as much as I have? Who has taken it to the international stage the way I did?”
“My achievements themselves are proof. Kannada will never abandon those who truly believe in it,” she concluded.
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PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
