International Booker Prize winning-author Banu Mushtaq has found herself in the midst of a controversy after she was invited to inaugurate a prominent festival in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Last week, the state's Congress government announced that Mushtaq - who won the Prize earlier this year for her short story anthology, Heart Lamp - would inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities in Mysuru (formerly called Mysore).
Mysuru Dasara, also called Naada Habba (which roughly translates to festival of the land in Kannada), is an annual 10-day event that has been celebrated for decades.
Thousands of people flock to the city to participate in the grand festivities, which include cultural performances, elephant parades, exhibitions and fireworks.
The decision to invite Mushtaq sparked criticism from some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders - which is in the opposition in the state - who said that Mushtaq, a Karnataka-born Muslim, should not be inaugurating a Hindu festival.
