Explained: What is the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute and why it has intensified?

 The decades-old dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra has hit the headlines again.

On Tuesday, hundreds of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) supporters were detained in the southern state after allegedly pelting stones at and defacing some vehicles with Maharashtra registration numbers.

This comes just a day after Chief Minister Basaravaj Bommai said he will ask his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde to not to depute his cabinet colleagues Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to Belagavi due to law and order issues.

Meanwhile, Belagavi deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil on Monday issued prohibitory orders in the district.

“There are chances of them (ministers) giving provocative speeches and controversial statements during their visit, which may lead to linguistic disharmony and a law and order problem, it may also cause loss of public properties,” the order stated.

But why is this happening? And why has this intensified? Let’s take a closer look:

What is the issue?

The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines.

Maharashtra, unhappy with the way the borders were drawn, laid claim to Belagavi (Belgaum) which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency as it has a sizable Marathi-speaking population.

Maharashtra did so under Section 21 (2)(b) of the States Reorganisation Act.

This Act, which took effect from 1 November, 1956, divided states on linguistic lines.

Maharashtra further laid claim to 814 Marathi-speaking villages in Uttara Kannada, Bidar, Gulbarga, and the towns of Belagavi, Karwar, and Nippani – all of which are currently part of Karnataka.

Karnataka, meanwhile, stuck to its guns, maintained that the demarcation was conducted on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act.

The Centre in 1966 set up the Mahajan Commission to examine the matter.

The Commission, led by ex-Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, in its 1967 report recommended that 264 villages should be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages ought to remain with Karnataka.

Maharashtra rejected the report out of hand, calling it ‘biased and illogical’, while Karnataka welcomed it and urged the Centre to implement it.

Meanwhile, Karnataka, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, changed its name from Belgaum to and even built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of legislature in Bengaluru.

A legislature session is held there annually.

The controversy between the states has since continued to flare up time and again.

In 2004, Maharashtra filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the State Reorganisation Act.

Why did things flare up again?

It all kicked off with some remarks from Bommai in the backdrop of an impending hearing on the matter in the apex court in November.

The Karnataka chief minister claimed his government was “seriously considering” laying a claim on the Jath taluk in Maharashtra, as per Deccan Herald.

“We came up with programmes to provide water to the Jath taluk (in Sangli district), which suffered severe drought. All gram panchayats there have resolved that the Jath taluk should join Karnataka. We’re seriously considering this,” Bommai said

“We have also decided to give special grants to Kannada schools in Maharashtra through the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority. And, Kannadigas living in Maharashtra who fought in the freedom struggle, unification movement and liberation of Goa will be given pension. We’re collecting necessary documents,” he added.

Bommai also held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue.

Bommai had in November also claimed that 40 villages in Jat taluka of Sangli district in Maharashtra had passed a resolution in the past to merge with Karnataka, and said that Kannada-speaking areas of the state such as Solapur and Akkalkot should join Karnataka.

Meanwhile, the Shinde-led government in Maharashtra deputed ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to coordinate its legal fight ahead of the hearing.

While Patil is the higher and technical education minister, Desai holds the excise portfolio.

The state government had also appointed senior advocate Vaidyanathan to represent Maharashtra in the case in the Supreme Court.

Shinde also announced the pension scheme for freedom fighters will cover those in the areas claimed by Maharashtra but in the administrative control of the neighbouring state.

He added his government was positive about extending benefits of the Mahatma Phule Jan Aarogya Yojana to people living in these areas.

Meanwhile, NDTV quoted Shinde as saying that Sena founder Bal Thackeray was “always a supporter of the state’s demand to make Belgaum (Belagavi) a part of Maharashtra”.

“We have concentrated our focus on solving the issue. If required, the number of lawyers would be increased. We will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amish Shah regarding the issue,” Shinde added.

The CM also asked a delegation of residents of Belagavi and neighbouring areas to maintain proper communication with the Karnataka government regarding providing of necessary facilities as well as usage of Marathi in day-to-day affairs in the disputed areas.

His deputy Devendra Fadnavis, responding to Bommai, said there is “no question of any village going anywhere” – remarks which Bommai called “provocative”.

The Nationalist Congress Party had also demanded that the Centre take immediate action against Bommai for allegedly making statements that were disturbing peace in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Though the matter was slated to be heard by the apex court, the case did not come up for hearing as judges were busy in the Constitution Bench hearing matter related to Jallikattu.

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said, “Karnataka has been asking for our areas, villages and even Jath, Solapur will they ask our Pandarpur Vithoba too? This raises one question-is there any govt in Maharashtra? Like before the Gujarat elections, some businesses were shifted there, so before the Karnataka elections will our villages be given to Karnataka?..”

The Shinde-led government had in December directed Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to visit Belagavi to address the border issue.

Bommai, ahead of the scheduled visit, had said it was not a good idea.

“Already our Chief Secretary has written to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra through fax. In the given situation it is not good for them to visit here and hence, they should not come here. We have already communicated to them. The Karnataka government will continue to take steps which were taken in the past,” Bommai told reporters in Belagavi.

The two ministers, expected to be joined by a member of Parliament, were scheduled to meet activists of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) at Belagavi in Karnataka on Tuesday.

MES is an organisation fighting for the merger of Belagavi and some other border areas with the western state.

Things flare up after war of words

Tuesday saw vehicles from either sides being targeted, leaders from both states weighing in and pro-Kannada and Marathi activists being detained by police amid a tense atmosphere in the border district.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar termed the situation in the border areas of the two states as “worrisome”, and said the time has come to take a stand after seeing what is happening there.

“Maharashtra has taken a stand of observing patience and it is still ready to do that. But even that has a limit. In 24 hours, if the attacks on vehicles are not stopped then this patience will take a different path and the responsibility will be completely on the Karnataka chief minister and the Karnataka government,” Pawar told reporters in Mumbai.

Bommai asserted his government’s commitment to protect the borders and ensure Kannadigas’ welfare and denied the issue had anything to do with the 2023 Assembly polls in the state, where the ruling BJP is fancying a successive term.

In Bengaluru, Bommai denied the issue had anything to do with the 2023 Assembly polls in the state.

“There is no relationship with upcoming assembly elections and Karnataka’s stand on the border issue. For many years now, it is Maharashtra that has been raking up the issue,” he said. Maharashtra has raised the dispute and there is reaction from Karnataka, he added.

Speaking to reporters, he maintained there is harmony between people of both states and it should not be disturbed.

“The case is before the Supreme Court, our stand is both legal and constitutional, so we are confident that we will win the legal battle. So there is no question of us wanting to create an issue out of it for the sake of elections. We are committed to protect the state’s borders and our people, and also the interests of Kannadigas living in Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala ” he added.

A Maharashtra ministerial delegation that was supposed to visit Belagavi and hold discussions with a pro-Marathi group postponed its schedule while Kannada organisations staged a protest in the district in a show of strength.

In Pune, activists of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction sprayed black and orange paints on at least three Karnataka state transport buses in Swargate area. They also wrote “Jai Maharashtra” on these buses. “We have detained four to five people who painted the buses,” a police officer said.

On the other side of the border, trucks and vehicles bearing Maharashtra registration were apparently targeted.

In a show of strength, pro-Kannada organisations staged demonstration in Belagavi, against the proposed visit of the ministerial delegation from the neighbouring state.

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which led the agitation also announced state-wide protests from Wednesday.

The leaders of the Kannada organisations protested against Maharashtra Ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai’s proposed visit which was postponed later.

The activists held placards, banners, posters, Kannada flag and raised slogans against Maharashtra for raking up the issue. The activists reportedly blackened the number plate of few trucks with Maharashtra registration.

In view of the protests, police made elaborate security arrangements in the city to avoid any untoward incidents.

To prevent the situation from turning violent, police took the protestors under preventive custody.

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president TA Narayana Gowda expressed his displeasure over the preventive arrest. Normal life was affected due the protests across the city.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis took up the matter with Bommai.

A video surfaced on social media showing some people throwing stones at vehicles entering Karnataka from Maharashtra near a toll booth at Hirebaugwadi in Belagavi, prompting Fadnavis to dial Bommai and extract an assurance on protection of vehicles.

Sources close to Fadnavis said he “made a phone call to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and expressed his disappointment over the Hirebaugwadi incident.”

“The Karnataka Chief Minister assured Fadnavis of strong action against the perpetrators. He also assured Fadnavis that vehicles entering Karnataka from Maharashtra will be given proper protection,” the sources added.

With inputs from agencies

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