Banu Mushtaq: lawyer, Kannada writer, feminist and now International Booker winner
New Delhi, May 21 (PTI): She's a lawyer, an activist, a feminist. And a writer in Kannada who distils it all in her stories that are deeply reflective of the lives of women around her and the patriarchal systems they fight against.
On Wednesday, Banu Mushtaq became the toast of the literary world when she won the International Booker Prize for her collection of short stories "Heart Lamp", translated from the Kannada "Hridaya Deepa" into English by Deepa Bhasthi.
It is the first Kannada title to win the prestigious literary award and only the second in an Indian language after Geetanjali Shree’s “Tomb of Sand”, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, in 2022.
Mushtaq's collection of 12 short stories chronicle the everyday lives of women and girls in patriarchal communities in southern India -- the reproductive rights that are often exploited, the dynamics of lives where the power reins are held by men and the everyday oppression of an orthodox society that seldom tolerates women’s autonomy.
The tales in “Heart Lamp”, the first collection of short stories to win the prize, were written by the 77-year-old over 30 years, from 1990 to 2023.
Mushtaq’s portraits of family and community tensions “testify to her years tirelessly championing women’s rights and protesting all forms of caste and religious oppression”, reads the blurb of her book.
The women’s rights activist based in Hassan in Karnataka began writing within the progressive protest literary circles in southwestern India in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the Bandaya Sahitya Movement. She rose to prominence during the rebel literary movement critical of the caste and class system.
Born in Hassan to progressive parents - her father was a senior health inspector and her mother a homemaker - Mushtaq also worked as a journalist with Lankesh Patrike for a while before doing her law degree.
She is still a practicing lawyer with a team working with her from her home in Hassan and regularly goes to court.
“I am not very conscious about it, but I know I am a Muslim woman and how to work under those identities… My parents were liberal and educated. My father wanted all his children to be highly educated. My husband is also very cooperative. My family doesn't impose anything on us," she told PTI after her book was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
She said she started writing when she was just seven or eight. “My father brought me a lot of books… Panchatantra, Chandamama. I was a voracious reader. I would read them and I would mash up everything and make stories and tell my father," Mushtaq said.
That early promise was amply met.
Author of six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection and a poetry collection, Mushtaq writes only in Kannada and has won major awards for her literary works, including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and the Daana Chintamani Attimabbe awards.
One of her stories, "Hasina", was adapted for cinema by director Girish Kasaravalli in 2004 and went on to win multiple National Awards.
In an interview to the International Booker Prize, the author said the “social conditions of Karnataka” shaped her.
“The 1970s was a decade of movements in Karnataka - the Dalit movement, farmers’ movement, language movement, rebellion movement, women’s struggles, environmental activism, and theatre, activities among others, had a profound impact on me. My direct engagement with the lives of marginalised communities, women, and the neglected, along with their expressions, gave me the strength to write,” she said.
Through her characters - the spirited children, the audacious grandmothers, the buffoonish maulvis and thug brothers, the oft-hapless husbands, and the mothers above all, surviving their feelings at great cost - Mushtaq emerges an observer of human nature.
“This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small, that in the tapestry of human experience every thread holds the weight of the whole,” Mushtaq said after the glittering award ceremony on Tuesday night at London’s Tate Modern.
“In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the lost sacred spaces where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages,” she said.
The International Booker celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. It is different from the Booker Prize that was earlier confined to Commonwealth writers and is now open to all writers in English.
With the award, Mushtaq’s works have found a whole new audience beyond her Kannada readers and also beyond India to the globe.
The stories in “Heart Lamp” "were selected and curated by Bhasthi, who was keen to preserve the multilingual nature of southern India. When the characters use Urdu or Arabic words in conversation, these are left in the original, reproducing the unique rhythms of spoken language. A translation of Mushtaq’s stories by Bhasthi also won the English PEN’s PEN Translates award in 2024.
“Heart Lamp” is the first book-length translation of Mushtaq’s work into English.
Max Porter, International Booker Prize 2025 chair of judges, described the winning title as something genuinely new for English readers.
“A radical translation which ruffles language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes. It challenges and expands our understanding of translation,” he said.
The accolades were fulsome, from friends, family and a host of authors and political leaders.
Her husband Mushtaq Moinuddin and son Tahir Mushtaq were thrilled.
“We are very happy with this news. It has brought glory to India and Karnataka. It is not a prize only for us, it is not personal, it is a matter of great joy for the whole of Karnataka,” said the proud husband.
“It's a very exciting, momentous and joyous event for all of us, not just for us as a family but for all the Kannadigas… we are very happy that a Kannada work has won and touched readers across the globe,” added her son Tahir.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said she has raised the flag of Kannada's greatness at an international level.
“This is a time to celebrate Kannada, Kannadigas and Karnataka…I wish she would continue to write meaningfully for many more years and spread the vibe of Kannada to the world,” the CM posted on X.
“On behalf of all Kannadigas, I would also like to congratulate the talented author Deepa Bhasti, who has translated her Booker Prize-winning work 'Hridaya Deepa' into English,” he added.
Each shortlisted title is awarded a prize of GBP 5,000, shared between the author and translator. The winning prize money of GBP 50,000 will be split between Mushtaq and Bhasthi.
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CM Siddaramaiah rebuts BJP's '63 per cent' corruption charge
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday refuted BJP leader R Ashoka's accusation regarding a judge's alleged remark about "63 per cent corruption" in the state, saying the opposition is "twisting facts" and attempting to shift blame from its own past tenure.
In a post on X, Siddaramaiah said the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly had “tried to hang the BJP’s bell of sins around the Congress government's necks and has ended up embarrassing himself” by misinterpreting the Upa Lokayukta’s comments.
"In the report submitted in November 2019, Honourable Upa Lokayukta B Veerappa had stated that there was 63 per cent corruption in the State. At the time he submitted the report, the BJP government led by Yediyurappa was in power in the State,” he clarified.
Countering Ashoka’s demand for a CBI probe, Siddaramaiah listed a series of scandals under the previous BJP government, saying corruption cases were "not just one or two".
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He accused the former regime of "shameless loot" even during the COVID crisis and said "a minimum 40 per cent commission was the norm across departments".
Referring to the death of contractor Santosh Patil, alleged irregularities in irrigation projects, the PSI recruitment scam and charges levelled by BJP MLC H Vishwanath against current state party president B Y Vijayendra, he said: “If we begin listing the scams from the BJP era, an entire epic volume could be written.”
Targetting the Centre, Siddaramaiah said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who proclaims “Na khaaoonga, na khaane doonga” (Neither shall I take kickbacks, nor allow others to take it), India was 'sinking into corruption'.
He cited Transparency International rankings that place the country 96th globally.
Dismissing Ashoka’s claims as “foolishness”, Siddaramaiah asserted that his administration was ensuring transparency in “recruitment to transfers”, preventing misuse of money and power.
“Mr R Ashoka, the monumental corruption you created cannot be cleaned up in just two and a half years,” the Chief Minister said. “Give us some time — we will set everything right.”
Ashoka demanded the transfer of all corruption cases against the Congress government in the state to the CBI, and called for its resignation.
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His demand comes following an alleged remark by Upalokayukta Justice B Veerappa that the level of corruption in Karnataka stood at '63 per cent'.
"We had fought against this corrupt government both inside and outside the assembly when the MUDA scam, Valmiki ST Development Corporation scam surfaced. At that time, CM Siddaramaiah repeatedly asked for evidence of corruption. As per our constitution, courts and judges hold big positions and what they say is regarded as order or a record," Ashoka, also the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said now a judge has stated that the government in Karnataka is "63 per cent corrupt".
"We-- BJP-- had made a 60 per cent commission charge against this government, but a judge has said it is not 60, it is 63 per cent. He (judge) said it at an event where he shared the stage with other judges and senior advocates. He has alleged that there is corruption in almost all departments, nothing happens without paying commission. Karnataka is in fifth position in corruption," he claimed.
At a public event on Wednesday, Justice Veerappa had claimed that the corruption in Kerala stood at 10 per cent, while it is 63 per cent in Karnataka.
He had said that he was able to witness it after becoming the Upalokayukta.
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Recalling that the Congress government, after coming to power, formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the "40 per cent commission" charge it had made against the previous BJP government, Ashoka asked -- what probe will the government order, following the 63 per cent corruption allegation against it.
"If you have any shame left, resign and go... you formed SIT against us, constitute CBI probe on this (allegations against Congress govt), if you have guts, let the corruption in various departments come out in the open," he added.
According to the LoP, Karnataka has become an "ATM" for the Congress party to fund any state elections. Power goes to those who give more money to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
"For the recent Bihar elections, more than Rs 300 crore has gone from Karnataka itself. A breakfast meeting of Ministers was called to collect this money," he said, adding that Congress is synonymous with corruption, and corruption is Congress' home deity.
