E-Paper
Border row: Maha body warns of court action if voters’ list not provided in Marathi
This statement comes after the ECI published the voters’ list ahead of the upcoming assembly election in the state. Amidst the ongoing border dispute, the voter list coming out only in Kannada has become a political issue in the district. The pro-Maharashtrian organisation has complained to Election Commission against the state election commission and warned it would boycott the election if the list is not published in the Marathi language
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) has threatened to take the Election Commission of India (ECI) to court over not providing the voters’ list in Marathi in the disputed Belagavi district.
This statement comes after the ECI published the voters’ list ahead of the upcoming assembly election in the state. Amidst the ongoing border dispute, the voter list coming out only in Kannada has become a political issue in the district. The pro-Maharashtrian organisation has complained to Election Commission against the state election commission and warned it would boycott the election if the list is not published in the Marathi language
MES knocked on the door of the Union Linguistic Minorities’ Commission against Karnataka for not following the commission’s guidelines, alleging that Marathis were intentionally harassed by not providing their property-related documents, and records, not displaying the boards in government offices and buses, only Kannada is being used in businesses which they would not follow.
Former MES-supported Independent MLA Manohar Kinekar said, “Article 29 (1) of the Constitution of India provides that any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script, or culture of its own shall right to conserve the same and added that as per the Election Commission letter 3-4-2008 dt 16-9-2008, it was clearly instructed to the Chief Election Officer of Karnataka to publish all electoral related material also in Marathi.”
“However, the Karnataka Election Commission is not following the order of the Union Election Commission, for which we decided to file a suit with the supreme court. Our move may give justice to those minorities in other states including Kannadigas in Maharashtra. We were provided with the electoral-related materials in our language until the last election,” he said.
Madhyavarti MES Belagavi city president Shubham Shelke said not following the instructions of the Linguistic Minorities and the Election Commission was yet another example of the alleged atrocities against Marathis in Karnataka. “We will keep continuing our administrative struggle continued until getting justice and our next generation will also continue the same,” he said.
While Belagavi district president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike Deepak Gudaganatti said Kannada is an official language of the state which the non-Kannadigas must learn and obey to the language. “Other linguistics like Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam, Sikhs and even Tamils have got adjusted to our language. What was the problem with Marathis especially in Belagavi. Marathis here know better Kannada, however just to keep their border struggle alive to get benefit from Maharashtra they are doing all this,” he said.
Karnataka Sarvodaya Seva Sangha which erected Kannada flags in many important places in Belagavi said no documentation in Marathi be given until Kannadigas in Maharashtra were provided with the same in their language.
