Karnataka: Kannada outfits announce statewide bandh on March 22 over assault on bus conductor in Belagavi

Kannada activist and 'Kannada Okkuta' leader Vattal Nagaraj urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and various associations to extend support to the bandh.

Kannada Okkuta, a coalition of multiple pro-Kannada organizations, has called for a statewide bandh in Karnataka on March 22. The protest comes in response to the alleged assault of a state-run bus conductor in Belagavi for not speaking Marathi.

As part of the agitation, the Kannada Okkuta plans to lay siege to Raj Bhavan from 11.30 am on March 3 demanding action to 'Save Belagavi'. (PTI)

According to news agency PTI, Kannada activist and 'Kannada Okkuta' leader Vattal Nagaraj urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and various associations to extend support to the bandh.

"On March 22, from 6 am to 6 pm, there will be a bandh across Karnataka... those who will support the shutdown or not, we will see later. This bandh is for this state, for Kannada, Kannadigas and Karnataka. This is for the pride of Kannada and Karnataka," Vatal Nagaraj said according to the agency.

Addressing reporters in Bengaluru after the Okkuta's meeting, he made an open call for all organisations and leaders to participate in the bandh. He also appealed to the CM and the government to support the bandh. In addition, Nagaraj requested Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy to suspend all state-run bus services on March 22.

He also called on the hotel owners association and film industry to support the bandh for a day. According to Nagaraj, several malls have already extended support. He has also appealed to government employees and labour unions, associations of farmers, lorry owners, taxis, private schools to extend support. As part of the agitation, the Kannada Okkuta plans to lay siege to Raj Bhavan from 11.30 am on March 3 demanding action to 'Save Belagavi'. On March 7, there will be a procession in Belagavi -- 'Belagavi Chalo'.

He further said the group would demand implementation of the Mekedatu project across Cauvery river, and call for bandh in Attibele, bordering Tamil Nadu on March 11. On March 14, there will be a protest in front of the offices of Deputy Commissioner in Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara.

There will be a protest halting traffic on Old Madras road near Hoskote here, on March 16 and on March 18 all the pro-Kannada organisations will hold a meet in Bengaluru, he added. A state-run bus conductor was allegedly assaulted by a group of Marathi-speaking youth for not conversing in the language, while on duty.

The incident occurred last week, when the bus was plying from Belagavi city to Balekundri. Following this, inter-state bus services between Maharashtra and Karnataka were suspended, in a way escalating the decades-old border and language dispute between the two states. This is a matter of state and Kannadiga's pride, Nagraj said, "The incident in Belagavi has made the people of the state bow their heads in shame. No one with humanity would indulge in such things."

"I feel that other than the pro-Kannada organisations, no politician in Belagavi is pro-Kannada, they have become Marathi agents, whether they are from Congress or BJP or JD(S), they only want votes," he alleged.

Karnataka-Maharashtra border issue

The border dispute dates back to 1957, following the reorganization of states based on language. Maharashtra claimed Belagavi, which was once part of the Bombay Presidency, citing its significant Marathi-speaking population and over 800 Marathi-majority villages that are now within Karnataka.

Karnataka maintained that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final. To assert that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka built the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' there, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the State Legislature and Secretariat in Bengaluru.

(With agency inputs)