More than 300 stopped at Karnataka-Maharashtra border, leaders detained
The disputed territory of Belagavi in Karnataka was witness to high drama on Monday, with several Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena leaders being taken into preventive custody.
Huge protests by politicians and activists from Maharashtra (which claims the territory) were planned on Monday, the first day of the last winter session of the current BS Bommai government in Karnataka. On the same day, Opposition leaders protested outside the Belagavi Assembly building against the unveiling of a Veer Savarkar portrait inside.
Belagavi, Karnataka | Members of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and NCP stage protest near Kognoli Toll Plaza near Karnataka-Maharashtra border over inter-state border issue pic.twitter.com/XaPJwEbBKv
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2022
Amid that, more than 300 members of Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP were stopped at Karnataka’s border with Maharashtra, while the latter state’s police detained NCP’s Hasan Mushrif and Shiv Sena’s Kolhapur district president Vijay Devane.
Congress blames Centre
Activists of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), an organisation that has been protesting the border issue for over 50 years, were detained for allegedly breaching Section 144 by holding a protest event. MES members and NCP workers from Satara and Sangli also staged protests at the Kognoli Toll Plaza near the border, where they were stopped.
Also read: Law, politics, emotions: Karnataka-Maharashtra’s 8-decade Belagavi row
The Quint quoted MES functionary Gunwant Patil as saying, “Around 40 people have been taken into custody so far, including seven or eight women.” Patil said the organisation has held the protest several times in the past during the winter session, against the state’s decision to hold assembly proceedings in disputed territory. It is peaceful and they just make speeches, he said.
Only a few days ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met Eknath Shinde and Bommai, the respective chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka, to pacify tensions. However, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole blamed the Centre for the dispute.
“PM Modi wants to divide Maharashtra. Despite the meeting between both chief ministers and Home Minister Amit Shah, why are leaders not allowed to go there?” NDTV quoted him as saying.
Issue of “Maharashtra’s pride”
Shinde said on Monday that the issue was of “Maharashtra’s pride” and that the state has taken a strong stand on the issue. “We are with our people and will provide anything required,” Shinde said.
Also read: Simplified: Why are Maharashtra and Karnataka sparring over border?
The border dispute dates to the 1950s, when the states were reorganised based on language. At the crux of the border dispute is Maharashtra’s contention that Belagavi and some other Marathi-speaking areas (814 villages) were wrongly given to Kannada-majority Karnataka. Karnataka has refused to hand over its territory and the matter has been in the Supreme Court for decades.
Maharashtra MP Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane was recently appointed as the chief of the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute expert committee. He was supposed to visit Belagavi on Monday, but the district administration barred his entry because it felt he might deliver inflammatory speeches.
Over the past few weeks, trucks from Maharashtra have been attacked in Karnataka and buses from the latter were defaced by workers of Shiv Sena (UDT). More than 4,000 policemen were deployed on Monday, when more than 61 organisations sought permission to hold protests.
(With agency inputs)
