Belagavi: A man riding a horse, waving a rifle amid a busy, crowded market area in Belagavi town in north Karnataka has once again stoked the smouldering boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The ‘protestor/activist’ on the horse, identified as Ratnaprasad Pawar of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), now faces criminal cases under the Arms Act, with Belagavi police taking up investigations into the MES’ observation of ‘black day’ on November 1.
November 1 is celebrated across Karnataka as Kannada Rajyothsava Day, the date on which the state was unified way back in 1956.
Police say the MES, which has long been fighting for Belagavi city to be made a part of Maharashtra because of its Marathi population, observes a ‘black day’ every year on November 1.
This time too, when they sought permission for a procession, they were given conditional approval by the police to go ahead with its protest.
For the record, the boundary dispute has long been thought of as ‘settled’ after the Centre-appointed Mahajan Commission gave its report nearly fifty years back. But Maharashtra approached the Supreme Court once again about ten years ago, and the matter is still pending.
In the meantime, the people of Belagavi have elected representatives to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, accommodated a second Vidhana Souda building, seen winter sessions of the Legislative Assembly being held there and even got used to the name of their city being changed from Belgaum to the more Kannadiga ‘Belagavi'.
The issue took a serious turn this time as a local MLA, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and a few corporators of the Belagavi City Corporation decided to participate in the ‘black day’ observation – wearing black clothes and bands and participating in the procession.
“Permission was given for this. If it was merely a peaceful procession, it would have been allowed. But the organisers and other miscreants disrupted it. They tried to cut the Karnataka flag and when police intervened, they started pelting stones,” says G Radhika, DCP (Law and Order) of Belagavi.
Complaints have been taken up under charges of rioting and unlawful assembly, and video footage from the protest is being scrutinised to identify the participants. “As of now, it is against 50–60 unidentified persons, but the effort is on to pin them down from all available video footage,” says Radhika.
The whole episode – from beginning of the procession to dispersal of the crowd – lasted barely four hours. But the daring support of elected corporators and an MLA has shocked the Karnataka government.
“These elected representatives are representing the Karnataka government, and administration, too in that city. What they did is not right, we need to see what action we need to take,” said Law Minister TB Jayachandra, speaking to reporters in Bengaluru.
His colleague Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa called it a betrayal of Karnataka.
Many Kannada organisations are holding counter-protests on Wednesday. They will submit memoranda to the Deputy Commissioner (Collector) and the government to supersede the Corporation – a suggestion the government seems to be taking seriously, as the DC has been asked to submit a detailed report on exactly to what extent did the corporators participate in the protest.
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