As activists in Maharashtra and Karnataka continue to wrestle with each other over Belagavi – a region in Karnataka claimed by Maharashtra as its own – the police have booked 27 people for vandalising a statue of Kannada freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna, reported news agency ANI.
According to the report, tensions simmered in Belagavi after a video in which the statue of Maratha ruler and icon Chhatrapati Shivaji was purportedly blackened, went viral.
Following the viral video, members of the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) gathered in the disputed town in protest of the alleged defacement of Shivaji's statue.
At the protest, pro-Maharashtra activists blamed Kannada goons for allegedly defacing the statue of Shivaji.
During the process, miscreants smashed around 27 government vehicles.
Commenting on the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "I condemn What happened in Belagavi last night, strict action will be taken against whoever breaks the law. I have also directed to take concrete action against the miscreants. Since these incidents are happening continuously, I have asked the police officers to take some long-term decisions to curb it forever."
What Happened Before?
The MES, which believes that Belagavi should be a part of the state of Maharashtra, was opposing the Vidhan Sabha session at Belagavi that started on 13 December this year.
Following this, pro-Kannada activists smeared ink on the face of protesting MES leader Deepak Dalvi.
In retaliation the Kannada flag was reportedly burnt by the MES at Kolhapur on14 December.
Shivaji's statue was allegedly smeared with black paint in Bengaluru on 15 December.
The Karnataka Assembly on 16 December decided to pass a censure motion against the burning of Kannada flag by miscreants in Kolhapur and send it to the Maharashtra government to act against those elements.
An Old Dispute
Belgaum, which was later renamed Belagavi, is located in the northern part of today’s Karnataka and shares a border with Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district. The district has both Kannada and Marathi speakers. During the British Raj, the Belgaum region was part of the Bombay Presidency, which included Karnataka districts such as Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, and Uttara Kannada.
Following the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Belagavi became part of Karnataka. In 1957, Maharashtra objected to this and submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs, demanding 2,806 square miles that included 814 villages, and three urban settlements of Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani, to be added to Maharashtra.
In 1966, the central government formed the Mahajan Commission under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan. He submitted his report to the Union government in 1967 and the commission’s report was placed in Parliament in 1972.
The commission rejected Maharashtra’s claim over Belagavi city while recommending the transfer of about 260 villages in the border to Maharashtra and about 250 villages in Maharashtra to Karnataka.
Maharashtra rejected this report.
In 2007, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court. In its petition, the Maharashtra government claimed that the Marathi-speaking population in Karnataka was being sidelined and that there was a feeling of "insecurity among them."
Maharashtra asked that 814 villages in Belgaum, Karwar, Bidar, and Gulbarga districts in Karnataka be moved under their jurisdiction since it had a majority of Marathi-speaking people.
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