Mysore/Mysuru: Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar has weighed in on the ongoing controversy over the choice of Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq as the inaugurator for this year’s Mysuru Dasara, stressing that the festival is a celebration for everyone, beyond religious or caste boundaries.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru this morning, he said, “Dasara is a festival of the land. It is not confined to any one religion or community. Can we celebrate Dasara by excluding one religion? Wasn’t Mirza Ismail, the then Diwan, instrumental in organising Dasara? Didn’t writer Nissar Ahmed inaugurate the festival in the past?”

The Home Minister urged critics not to politicise the issue. “Whether someone believes in Goddess Chamundeshwari or not is a personal matter. This is a community festival and it must be celebrated collectively,” he said.