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Pro-Kannada groups threaten stir if Maha ministers allowed entry for meeting on border dispute
The ministers are scheduled to meet pro-Maharashtrian organisation Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Belagavi block Shiva Sena at Maratha Mandir at 12 pm on December 3
Pro-Kannada organisations on Wednesday threatened to stage protests if Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai are allowed entry into Karnataka to meet pro-Maharashtra activists in Belagavi on December 3 over the decades-old border dispute.
The border dispute dates back to the 1960s after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to 80 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka.
Patil and Desai have been appointed as the coordinating ministers for the border row with a mandate to coordinate with the legal team regarding the court case on the border dispute between the two states. The ministers are scheduled to meet pro-Maharashtrian organisation Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and Belagavi block Shiva Sena at Maratha Mandir at 12 pm on December 3.
Members of dozens of Kannada organisations, including both the factions of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and the Karnataka Navanirmana Sene (KNS), told reporters that hundreds of activists will take to streets to stop the meeting and the state government would be responsible for the aftermath incidents. Hundreds of activists will keep a watch at every entry point to the district from Maharashtra and prevent the ministers from entering, they said.
Pro-Maharashtra activists in Karnataka have, however, alleged that they are forced to learn Kannada, which is the official language used in all government documents.
They further urged that Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking places in Karnataka must be declared as a Union Territory until the dispute is settled.
Several pro-Maharashtra delegations have tabled similar pleas before the previous governments and the President.
Madhyavarthi Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) president Deepak Dalavi said that Maharashtra has always responded to and supported the Marathis in Belagavi by assigning its leaders and their sympathizers for key protests, including ‘Black Day’ and ‘Hutatma Day’ observations every year. “Their speeches and support motivate, encourage and make us to be firm to struggle against Karnataka’s step motherly treatment. Let the state book them if they violate any norm or cause for the disturbance to the peace of the society. Kannadigas demand to prevent the visit of Maharashtra ministers is a game plan of Karnataka government which is an example for troubling us,” he said.
Meanwhile, KRV district president Deepak Gudaganatti (Narayana Gowda faction) has blamed Karnataka government for allowing the growth of MES and Shiva Sena in the state as its “every activity, including anti-state ones, was officially entertained”.
“They are allowed to observe ‘Black Day’ and conduct public meetings every year on Karnataka Rajyotsava day. They have also been given permission to hold parallel meeting ‘Maha Melawa’ (huge convention) on the inaugural day of every legislative session, among other things,” he said.
He added that more than a thousand Kannada activists would throng to the pro-Maharashtrian meeting place and the government would be responsible for the outcome.
In a memorandum submitted to the Belagavi Police Commissioner Boralingaiah on Wednesday, the organisation has said that since Maharashtra ministers were arriving for private purposes, Karnataka should not maintain any protocol and prevent them from entering the state as their visit would create harm to the state, else KRV will stop them.
KNS state president Bhimashankar Patil said: “MES must be banned for its anti-state stand and activities. Despite enjoying all facilities and benefits of the state, it is levelling false allegations. The anti-state people should not be allowed to enter the state,” he said.
Karnataka Navanirmana Sene state president Bhimashankar Patil said that Belagavi and those disputed lands that Maharashtra claims right are the part and parcel of the state. Pro-Maharashtrians, despite enjoying every right in the state level, falsely claim on Karnataka to earn sympathy and to get benefit and funds from Maharashtra which is giving monthly pension to the relatives of those killed, injured in the border movements and also the yearly funds to the Marathi institutions in the state.
“With an intention to keep continuing to enjoy the benefits and to show they are still fighting for their merger into Maharashtra are doing all such show offs which we are opposing. Let Maharashtra ask the Marathi educational institutions and school students about the facilities being provided by Karnataka and later talk about the alleged injustice, stepmother treatment to Marathis,” Patil said.
Talking about the security arrangements, police commissioner Boralingaiah said that no one has sought permission for the meeting yet, and added that the department has taken appropriate measures to maintain law and order in the area.
