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Ministerial team to resolve Maharashtra-Karnataka dispute: Amit Shah
No state will stake claim on the territory till the Supreme Court decides the dispute, Union home minister Amit Shah announced on Wednesday.
A six-member ministerial team, comprising three ministers each from Maharashtra and Karnataka, will sit-together to discuss a festering interstate border issue and no state will stake claim on the territory till the Supreme Court decides the dispute, Union home minister Amit Shah announced on Wednesday after a meeting with the chief ministers of both states.
Shah met Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra in Delhi.
After the meeting, Shah said several decisions were taken to resolve the dispute, which he said “cannot be settled on the streets, but only through constitutional means”.
“I had a meeting with the CMs and HMs of Karnataka and Maharashtra today in the presence of senior officials of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) officials. Both sides have agreed that the dispute cannot be resolved on the road, but only through constitutional means,” Shah told reporters after the meeting.
“Till the Supreme Court delivers its verdict on the issue, no party will not make a claim on the other. Secondly, from both states, six ministers (three each from Maharashtra and Karnataka) will discuss the border issue in depth. These ministers will also discuss other pending issues between the two states,” Shah added.
Karnataka is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while in Maharashtra, the BJP is the senior partner in the ruling coalition.
The six-decade-old border dispute between two states recently flared up after Bommai said two weeks ago that his government was considering laying claim on 40 Kannada-speaking villages from Jat Tehsil in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. Last Tuesday, violence erupted after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belgaum and Pune. Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belgaum (now Belgavi), Karwar and Nippani, should be merged into Maharashtra.
Bommai and Shinde are expected to nominate ministers for the panel in the next few days and the first meeting will be held soon, officials said, requesting anonymity.
The home minister further said that a committee under an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer WILL BE formed CHECK to ensure there are no law-and-order problems or inconvenience to the general public and traders on both sides of Karnataka-Maharashtra border, and action will be taken on social media accounts spreading misinformation on the issue.
“A committee under a senior IPS officer will look into the law-and-order situation (at the border of two states), and ensure that different language speaking residents, and traders do not face any inconvenience,” Shah said.
The home minister said that “fake twitter accounts” played a key role in flaring up the recent incidents at the border. “During discussions, it came to the notice that fake twitter accounts were generated in the name of some senior politicians to spread misinformation. It has been decided that FIRs will be registered wherever fake twitter accounts have been created to create unrest and such people will be exposed,” Shah said.
He also urged the opposition parties from both the states not to “politicise” the border dispute. “I urge the opposition parties of both Maharashtra and Karnataka not to politicise this issue. We should wait for the outcome of the discussions of the committee formed to resolve this issue and the decision of the Supreme Court. I am confident that Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, and the Uddhav Thackeray group will cooperate,” he said
Shinde said that Bommai assured them that there will be no violence against
Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka. “We clarified that Maharashtra was firm on its stand submitted in the apex court. Both the states have agreed to maintain peace and sovereignty. The other issues related to the atrocities against Marathi speaking people in the border area, the issues related to the Marathi schools will be addressed by the committee of ministers,” he addEd.
Fadnavis said that Bommai told them that some statements against Maharashtra were spread by fake twitter accounts in his name. “We expressed our unhappiness over the inflammatory statements over the issue, but we were told that fake twitter handles were created to create unrest. The Karnataka CM said that he has initiated action against the people behind them. There were certain outfits which were working to create tension. Action will be initiated against them,” he said.
Bommai said that during the meeting, Shah said that the border dispute should be resolved as per the provisions of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s verdict. “Since there are some small concerns coming up from time to time, a decision has been made to create a committee of three ministers from respective states. If there are constant talks between the two states, these problems will be resolved quickly, as per the home minister,” he said.
