Border dispute: Karnataka, Maharashtra get notice over failure to hold meetings

The central government has issued notices to Karnataka and Maharashtra for failing to convene meetings of the coordination committee to address border disputes.

The central government has served notices to both the Karnataka and Maharashtra governments for their failure to convene meetings of the coordination committee established in December 2022 to address border disputes between the two states, according to sources familiar with the matter.

In 2022, Amit Shah organised a meeting of the then chief ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra in New Delhi (PTI)

The Congress government, which took office in May 2023, was unaware of the existence of the coordination committee on border disputes, said sources.

When contacted state law minister HK Patil, he expressed his lack of knowledge regarding the coordination committee and assured to bring the matter to the attention of chief minister Siddaramaiah, urging prompt formation of the committee.

“Given the seriousness of the matter, I will urge the government to establish the committee immediately and take it seriously,” the minister said.

In the previous BJP government, ministers Govind Karjol, JC Madhuswamy, and Shashikala Jolle represented Karnataka, while Chandrakant Patil, Deepak Kesarkar, and Shamburaj Desari represented Maharashtra on the committee.

Belagavi district in-charge minister Satish Jarkiholi acknowledged awareness of the committee formed by the previous government but expressed ignorance about the lack of meetings held and the failure to establish a new committee in the current government.

“I learned about the Union home ministry’s notice through the media. As a representative of the district, which is at the centre of the dispute, I will soon appeal to the chief minister to comply with the notice to avoid adverse effects on the state’s position in the border dispute at the Supreme Court,” the in-charge minister said.

The Union home ministry’s notices, issued on February 23, 2023, and December 2023, expressed disappointment at the lack of response from both the states regarding the progress of committee meetings and urged them to submit a status report urgently.

Home minister Amit Shah had instructed establishing three-member committees in both the states to address language and border issues, with the first meeting held in New Delhi on December 14, 2022, and the subsequent meetings to be scheduled once every three months.

Kannada activist Ashok Chanderagi expressed disappointment at the state government’s neglect of the border dispute, noting the failure to form a new committee even eight months after the formation of the new government. He warned that Karnataka’s disregard for the home ministry’s instructions could have consequences for its border case in the apex court.

“Maharashtra, just in a month of establishing the committee, has violated the norms of the treaty by touching the border dispute which is against the instructions of minister Shah,” Chandaragi said.

Tensions between the two states reignited after Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Sindhe claimed rights over 865 towns and villages in Karnataka in November 2022. In response, the then Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai asserted rights over Kannada-populated areas in Maharashtra, escalating tensions in Belagavi and Kannada-dominated regions of south Maharashtra.

To address these issues, the home ministry organised a meeting of both chief ministers in New Delhi on December 22, 2022, advising against territorial claims until the border dispute is resolved in court.

Chanderagi criticised Maharashtra for violating the coordination committee’s treaty by lobbying the Prime Minister to establish a new commission to resolve the border dispute, contrary to Shah’s instructions. Maharashtra’s introduction of a health insurance scheme for Marathis in Karnataka, requiring certification from a pro-Maharashtrian organisation, was also deemed a violation.

In defence, Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti’s (MES) spokesman Vikas Kalaghatagi argued that the delegation to the Prime Minister and the insurance scheme were responses to immediate grievances and denied any violations of the committee’s norms.

The border dispute remains a contentious issue, with both the states grappling for a resolution amid the ongoing tensions and negotiations.