Timely action by residents of Managutti and surrounding villages ensured that a minor incident in the village did not blow up into a full-fledged law and order problem.
A few days ago, a recently-unveiled Shivaji statue in Managutti village was taken down by the villagers as they wanted to erect statues of some other national leaders in the village square. This led to a call by some Shiv Sena leaders in neighbouring Kolhapur district of Maharashtra to declare a protest on Sunday.
Some local leaders warned that they would come to the State border at Kolhapur and protest against Karnataka for the alleged insult to the Shivaji statue. These developments provided fodder to some arguments on social media.
Village elders of both Kannada and Marathi groups came together and held a meeting in the village on Sunday.
They submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath that they had taken down the statue as they had to resolve some issues in the village. “Once these issues are resolved, we will put up the statue in the same place in a grand ceremony,” they said.
They also issued a video statement calling for peace.
In the message, they said that they were not under anyone’s pressure , nor were they acting under government directions.
They also said that they did not need any politician from outside to interfere with the affairs of the village.
Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi said that the situation was peaceful and that there was no need to panic.
