Not just Banu Mushtaq—PM Modi silent on honours for Ravish Kumar and Geetanjali Shree too
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When Banu Mushtaq won the 2025 International Booker Prize for her Kannada short story collection Hridaya Deepa (‘Heart Lamp’), the absence of a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is generally known for publicly acknowledging and celebrating Indian successes on international platforms, was noticeably apparent.
Though Prime Minister Modi generally extends his wishes to individuals as a gesture of appreciation for their success at the international level, there have been three occasions—including Banu Mushtaq’s Booker Prize win—when, according to The Wire, his silence was apparent.
The silence was perhaps selective, possibly influenced by the recipients’ perceived political or ideological positions, or by the themes of their work, which often include critiques of religious majoritarianism and divisiveness, and advocacy for pluralism in India.
These instances stand in contrast to Modi’s routine practice of issuing public congratulations for achievements in fields such as sports, science, and technology.
Mushtaq’s collection, which critiques patriarchy and highlights plural identities through the lens of a Muslim woman writing in Kannada, Urdu, Dakhni, and Hindi, was hailed as a historic moment for Indian and Kannada literature.
This pattern of selective silence is not new, as Modi had also failed to publicly acknowledge journalist Ravish Kumar’s receipt of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, a distinction often referred to as the Asian Nobel Prize, even though it was celebrated across the political spectrum and applauded by large sections of civil society.
Kumar, known for his sharp critique of religious majoritarianism and his commitment to press freedom, was widely recognised as a voice of journalistic integrity during a period of increasing pressure on the media.
Similarly, when Hindi author Geetanjali Shree became the first Indian writer to win the International Booker Prize in 2022 for her novel Tomb of Sand (Ret Samadhi), there was no public recognition from Modi or other senior government figures.
The omission was widely noted because the government has regularly championed Hindi as a national language, and the award itself marked a historic moment as the first for a South Asian language. Shree’s novel, written in Hindustani, explores themes of borderlessness and interfaith love, including the relationship between a Muslim Pakistani man and a Hindu Indian woman—narratives that challenge sectarian discourse.
In all three cases, The Wire notes that the silence from the Prime Minister may not be coincidental but could be influenced by the political or ideological positions of the recipients and the thematic nature of their work, which often interrogates majoritarianism and affirms pluralism.