The border town of Belagavi, which has been a part of Karnataka since 1956, has been tense over the last fortnight. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a Marathi outfit formed to seek Belagavi’s inclusion into Maharashtra, made a fresh bid to rekindle the decades-old Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute. While the Karnataka Government has been holding the winter session of the Legislature in Belagavi since 2006, to send a message that the town is a part of the State, the MES has been holding ‘Maha Melava’ rallies to coincide with the session to press for its demand.
This time, trouble began after some Kannada activists blackened the face of a MES leader during the rally, which coincided with the first day of the session on December 13. In turn, some Marathi outfits burnt the Kannada flag in Kolhapur in Maharashtra. This was widely condemned by Kannada organisations and the Basavaraj Bommai-led government in Karnataka. To settle scores, some Kannada activists poured ink on a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in Bengaluru. MES activists then vandalised a statue of Sangolli Rayanna, a 19th century icon of Karnataka who fought the British, at Belagavi.
These incidents have spurred some Kannada organisations to call for a State bandh on December 31. Though not all organisations are on board with the bandh call, the demand for a ban of the MES has been articulated widely among Kannada groups and a section of politicians. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray condemned the Shivaji statue incident, and sought the Centre’s intervention. Mr. Bommai said Karnataka would stand with border villages with a large Kannadiga population if they wished to be part of the State, which irked the Maharashtra Government.
The MES, founded on the eve of Independence, is not a political party but its members have been sending out representatives to the Assembly and to the local body as independent candidates. However, its political fortunes have been sagging lately. Control over the town of Belagavi is a powerful symbol of MES politics. Political conflict along linguistic lines continues to be a major factor in local politics in Belagavi and has also resonated beyond the local level.
It was in 1966 that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi found herself under pressure to show some action towards resolving the border row. For this purpose, she established the Mahajan Commission a few months before the 1967 general elections and its report was released after the elections. It said Belagavi town should stay with Karnataka. The decision was not accepted by Maharashtra. A petition by Maharashtra in the Supreme Court, staking a claim over Belagavi, is pending.
One major factor for renewal of the conflict came in 1986 from then Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde when he made the Kannada language test mandatory for anyone joining the State Government service. Though the decision was apparently aimed at bolstering the Janata Party’s position, the stoppage of the concession given to linguistic minorities strained relations between two linguistic groups. Later, Hegde had to assure Marathi leaders that Kannada would not be made compulsory in primary education in the border areas.
MES-supported candidates, who have been winning one or more seats in the district since the 1957 Karnataka Assembly elections, were defeated in the 2018 Assembly elections. As another election draws close in 2023, the MES is keen to revive its political fortunes. Three decades ago, political scientist Atul Kohli had noted that the MES will become irrelevant if the border dispute is allowed to die. While keeping the issue alive serves political purposes on both sides, the onus is on the two State governments to ensure peace at the borders.
nagesh.p@thehindu.co.in
