Women authors in Kannada, including Banu Mushtaq, Sara Aboobacker, Vaidehi, and many others, worked extensively against all forms of oppression in society, including caste, religion, and, most significantly, gender, during these movements.
Published May 26, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2025 | 9:16 AM
Banu Mushtaq.
Synopsis: Kannada author Banu Mushtaq recently won the International Booker Prize. Several Kannada literary movements, including women-led initiatives, paved the way for her international recognition, as well as that of the regional language.
The entire country celebrated on 22 May, when Banu Mushtaq, a native of Hassan in Karnataka, won the International Booker Prize for the translated version of her book, Heart Lamp (Haseena Mattu Itara Kathegalu in Kannada). Banu, while collecting the prize at a ceremony alongside Deepa Bhasthi, who translated the book into English, at Tate Modern in London, described it as a “victory for diversity”.
The International Booker Prize victory of Banu not only marked a victory for diversity, but also for the entire Kannada literature and various revolutions that began in 1979 and the 1980s, including the Bandaya Sahitya Movement and the Mahila Samvedhane Movement.
Women authors in Kannada, including Banu Mushtaq, Sara Aboobacker, Vaidehi, and many others, worked extensively against all forms of oppression in society, including caste, religion, and, most significantly, gender, during these movements.
It has been over five decades since the Bandaya Sahitya Movement in Kannada literature began. From 1979 to today, new experiments and the ideas of Dalit writers, including women, have been published.
This not only reflects the creative side of literature but also aims to create social and political awareness in the state.
Kalegowda Nagawara, a renowned Kannada author, retired college lecturer, and one of the minds behind the Bandaya Sahitya Movement, said, “Bandaya Sahitya started in March 1979, but there was no one particular reason for the movement. There were several reasons for writers from Dalit and other oppressed communities to come to the forefront, to speak and write about the hardships faced by the people. I was working as a lecturer at Bangalore University in the 1970s. I, along with DR Nagaraj, T Siddalingaiah, Baraguru Ramachandrappa and a few others, came together to start this movement in 1979.”
“Even before this movement began, there was a movement called Busa Sahitya Chaluvali, started by B Basavalingappa, a former minister in the Devaraj Urs government in 1973. It gained a lot of public attention and became controversial when Basavalingappa used the word busa in his speech at one of the conferences organised at Mysore University.”
“The word busa literally translates to ‘fodder’. In his speech, Basavalingappa said there is busa or fodder in literature. You need not carry all literary works on your head; certain things must be rejected if they are not in the interest of mankind. When it became a controversy and prominent people began criticising Basavalingappa, I, along with Tejaswi, P Lankesh and others, came out in support of him,” Kalegowda said.
Kalegowda, whether we could accept the caste system, discrimination against women and other issues that existed in our society and are reflected in the Vedas and Puranas, which are part of Kannada literature.
“Isn’t all this busa? That is what he meant — such discriminations written in literary texts must not be accepted. Back in the 12th century, the famous vachana writer Akkamahadevi herself said in one of her vachanas that it is not mandatory to accept everything in the Vedas, Puranas and Bhagavad Gita. They promote and teach inequality in many parts,” he said.
“She used the Kannada word thoudu to describe such practices, which translates to ‘waste’. We are ready to accept practices that serve humanity. The Upanishads and the teachings of Buddha were in the interest of humanity. What Akkamahadevi called thoudu some 900 years ago, Basavalingappa called busa,” he added.
Eventually, this issue compelled Basavalingappa to resign from his ministerial post — which he did willingly — said Kalegowda, adding that it was the Busa Movement in Karnataka that inspired young writers like him to start the Bandaya Sahitya Movement.
Apart from the Busa Movement, some statements made by Hampa Nagaraja, former president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, also contributed to the beginning of the Bandaya Movement.
Kalegowda said, “The Kannada Sahitya Parishat organised Kannada Sahitya Sammelanas across Karnataka. Professor Hampa Nagaraja was the president of the Parishat in March 1979. One of our friends, and a key figure in the Bandaya Movement, Chennanna Walikar, asked Hampa Nagaraja to allocate a slot for a Dalit Sahitya Conference, as enough Dalit writers were highlighting crucial issues. In reply, Hampa said, ‘Sahithyadalli, Dalit, Balit and Kalit anta ellide?’ which translates to, ‘Where is Dalit, Kalit and Balit in literature?’”
Kalegowda and others who took this statement seriously launched the Bandaya Sahitya Movement that same month.
“We organised the sammelana at the Devanga Convention Hall in Bengaluru on 10 and 11 March 1979. The special aspect of the Bandaya Sahitya Sammelana was that people from all ideologies—including Gandhians, Marxists, Socialists, and followers of Periyar—were part of the event. Our intention was to create awareness and fight discrimination based on religion, caste, gender, race, etc., through our work in Kannada literature.”
LN Mukund Raj, President of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, explained, “Kannada literature has seen the Navodaya or Ramya Movement before Independence, led by Da Ra Bendre, BM Srikantaiah, Kuvempu, and Narsimha Swamy. Post-1945, there were progressive writers with leftist ideologies, including Niranjan, AN Krishna Rao, TR Subba Rao, Basavaraj Kattimani and others. These authors voiced real-life issues faced by the people.”
He continued, “After 1955, there was the Navya Literature Movement, and writers during this phase were also influenced by English writers like George Eliot. Gopala Krishna Adiga, Ramachandra Sharma, UR Ananthamurthy, P Lankesh, and Poornachandra Tejaswi were key figures. While the Navya Movement was ongoing, the Bandaya Sahitya Movement began in 1979 alongside the Dalit Literary Movement. Many Bandaya Sahitya writers were also involved in the Dalit movement.”
Mukund also recalled that famous authors such as P Lankesh, Poornachandra Tejaswi, MD Nanjundaswamy, and KM Shankarappa formed the Samajvadi Yuvajana Sabha.
“Under this Sabha, they organised a conference for non-Brahmin writers in Srirangapatna in 1974–75. The eminent author Kuvempu inaugurated this conference. It was around this time that Dalit consciousness began to emerge. Subsequently, Bandaya Sahitya writers like Kalegowda Nagawara, Chennanna Walikar, Baraguru Ramachandrappa, T Siddalingaiah, Chandrashekara Patil and others took the lead in expanding the movement.”
Mukund highlighted the key difference between the Navodaya, Navya, and Bandaya Sahitya Movements: “Navodaya and Navya did not form formal organisations. Writers simply wrote and published their work, which readers consumed. However, the Bandaya Sahitya Movement led to the formation of an organisation. It had organisers and field workers. Sammelanas were held across different places and years.”
He continued, “Even before Bandaya Sahitya began, prominent writers addressed the issues of oppressed communities — Dalits, Adivasis, and tribals. Some of these exemplary works include Chomana Dudi by Kota Shivaram Karanth, Malegalalli Madhumagalu by Kuvempu, and others. There is a difference between the narratives of Kuvempu, Karanth, and those of Devanoor Mahadeva and T Siddalingaiah. One must read them to understand their distinct perspectives. In Kannada, we call this chaharegalu (faces).”
According to Mukund, the Mahila Samvedhane or Mahila Chaluvali (women’s movement) also began around the same time as the Bandaya Sahitya Movement in the 1980s. Many women rose to prominence through their literary works.
The list includes Sara Aboobacker, Banu Mushtaq, Vaidehi, Sandhya Reddy, Savitha Nagabhushan, MR Kamala, Mamtha Sagar, HN Aarthi, among many others, who began writing about women’s issues in society.
He said, “We were unaware of the feminine world, which had been dominated by patriarchy. Earlier, it was mostly male authors who wrote about women’s issues. But now, women began writing from their own perspectives, introducing us to the turmoils, confusions and complexities they faced in a society governed by rules for women across all religions and castes.”
Meanwhile, Kalegowda explained how Banu and Sara became part of the Bandaya Movement in Karnataka.
“Many women, including Sara Aboobacker and Banu Mushtaq, joined the movement. It was not just a fight against caste or religious discrimination, but also against gender-based discrimination. Banu, then a young lawyer, worked for the Bandaya Sahitya Movement at the district level. She wrote stories and articles focused on women’s issues, especially within the Muslim community in southern Karnataka. There were times when men from their community ordered Banu to stop writing about women’s issues,” he said.
Recalling how Sara joined the movement, he explained, “In one of the public gatherings in the 1980s, the famous writer Sara Aboobacker was addressing people in Puttur. Some men from the Muslim community instructed her to wear a burqa in public. In reply, she said people had no right to question her attire. In a democratic system, everyone has the freedom of choice.”
“This statement also led to controversy. Sara was already a noted author, but she joined our movement to fight against the suppression of women in society and within the community,” Kalegowda noted.
Following the movement, several books and literary pieces were published. Kalegowda said, “Siddalingaiah wrote and I published Hole Madigara Haadu, one of the few and famous works that highlighted Dalit issues through literature. We also translated some works by socialist politician Ram Manohar Lohia into Kannada. This was done specifically to promote equality among oppressed communities—both socially and politically.”
Asked whether the Bandaya Sahitya Movement has achieved the changes it aimed for, Kalegowda said, “The movement brought significant changes as it encouraged more Dalits, Muslims, and Christians to contribute to Kannada literature. However, new problems continue to affect these communities. The challenges they face now are different from those of five decades ago. Today, new writers from these oppressed communities are experimenting with fresh ideas in Kannada literature. The movement is still alive and will continue in the coming years.”
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
