Belagavi Row: Bommai Condemns Vandalism; Thackeray Seeks PM Modi's Intervention

Ever since the winter session of the Karnataka assembly took off in Belagavi, the region has been seething with border issues.

It all began with a few members of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which has electorally lost its significance in the district, protesting outside the Suvarna Soudha, when a few Kannada activists blackened the face of an MES leader. In reaction, MES supporters burnt the Kannada flag in Kolhapur while calling for a bandh in Belagavi.

The burning of the flag led to a censure motion being passed but the tremors of the unrest in the border district began to be felt in the capital city, with some ‘activists’ protesting the insult to the Kannada flag pouring ink on the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Bengaluru’s Sadashivanagar.

Meanwhile in Belagavi, residents of Kanakdas Colony woke up to find the statue of Krantiveera Sangoli Rayanna damaged with the sword and shield thrown next to it.

This tit-for-tat between the two groups has been going on with leaders from all parties in Karnataka condemning the insult to the Kannada flag and its freedom fighters. Incidents of stone pelting on buses and private vehicles from Karnataka were also reported from Maharashtra.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai strictly condemned all attempts to dismantle the law and order situation in the state while assuring Marathis in Karnataka that their security was the responsibility of the Karnataka government. Bommai on Friday responded to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s reported call for Marathas to unite saying ”responsible people should never incite anyone under any circumstances”.

While arrests have been made in both cases of vandalism, the Karnataka government on 20 December has said the state’s Home Secretary and Director General of police would discuss with the govt of Maharashtra matters relating to the safety of Kannadigas and their properties in that state.

38 people have been arrested so far in the Belagavi violence incident, while seven members are behind bars for the Bengaluru incident. Jnanendra also assured that those behind all these acts would also be probed and that discussions would be held about banning the MES which ’is the real reason’ for all that has unfolded in Belagavi.

Section 144 was imposed in Belagavi over the weekend but these orders not withstanding, residents of the Angol reinstalled a new statue of Sangoli Rayanna on Saturday at the place where the original one stood before being vandalised.

A call for a ban on MES was also made by leaders across the political spectrum in the state. Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Mahesh Joshi sought that those involved be booked under the Goonda act. A committee headed by Karnataka Law Commission chairman Justice SR Bannurmath has been formed to find out an amicable and permanent solution to border issues with Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, said Joshi, as reported.

Meanwhile Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had also sought PM Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter. ''PM Modi should direct the Karnataka government to take action in the matter. This incident (alleged desecration of the statue) cannot be taken lightly. For several years, Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka are facing atrocities. Now, the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is desecrated,'' he said in an official statement, as reported.

Belagavi in Karnataka has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population and has been at the heart of a five-decade-old border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra. Following the State Reorganisation Act of 1956, Belagavi was handed over to the Mysore state, which was renamed as Karnataka in 1973.

Due to objections, the Mahajan Commission was constituted in 1966 to resolve the issue. The Commission in its report in 1967 recommended the transfer of 264 villages into Maharashtra while Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka. While Maharashtra rejected it, Karnataka had welcomed the report.