CM Uddhav dubbed the land 'Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra'. Understanding Belagavi border dispute

The historical dimensions of the inter-state territorial dispute

belagavi-1 Belagavi highlighted in Karnataka | Wikimedia Commons

On Saturday,  Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut dubbed the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka—over Belagavi—as one not over a piece of land, but a fight to preserve Marathi culture and language. It was not a fight between "Pandavas and Kauravas", he said. Since the two states came into existence, Maharashtra has been claiming Belagavi (also called Belgaum), and some other border areas in north Karnataka which have significant Marathi population. Sporadic violence over the territory has broken out over the years. Raut, during his visit, had reportedly said the 70-year-old border issue between two states can be resolved by a 'strong' Union Home Minister like Amit Shah, who abrogated Article 370 related to Jammu and Kashmir. 

On Sunday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayanon made it clear that the Belagavi border issue was settled, even as he accused certain political leaders in neighbouring Maharashtra of raking it up for political reasons. Also, he urged them to focus on issues of public good that need immediate attention rather than instigating people for petty reasons on such emotive issues that have already been decided upon. "The Karnataka and Maharashtra border issue has already been settled by the Mahajan commission report, so they [political leaders] should stop repeatedly instigating the people on the issue with political motive," Ashwathnarayanon told reporters. He said, "We all are Indians, boundaries between states have been fixed and decided upon. Instead of repeatedly dwelling on the issue, there are many good work to do. There are no boundaries for humanity and good work. Raut raking up such an issue is making things awkward for himself," he added.

On Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the dispute was being heard by the Supreme Court for last 14 years, and that both the states should accept the apex court's verdict. Thackeray—who, according to a Times of India report, in 2019 dubbed the territory Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra—had recently appointed ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Eknath Shinde as co-coordinators to expedite the case. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which has been fighting in the border areas of Belagavi for the merger with Maharashtra, had also recently submitted a memorandum of their demands to Uddhav Thackeray. 

What is the dispute all about?

Maharashtra claims the border district of Belagavi was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, but is currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds. Belagavi borders the Maharashtra district of Kolhapur and contains a sizeable number of Marathi speakers. Once the states were formed, in 1956, Belagavi (then Belgaum) was handed over to Karnataka. After a hunger strike by Senapati Bapat, an independence fighter from Maharashtra, the Mahajan Committee was formed in 1966 to study the dispute between the two states. The following year, in its report, the committee recommended that 300 villages in Suparna and Karwar be handed over to Maharashtra; also, Sholapur in Maharashtra and Kasargod in Kerala was to be handed over to Karnataka (then Mysore state). But, the report was rejected. The UPA government in the Centre was in favour of mutual negotiation, diplomacy and settlement; but in 2007, Maharashtra moved the Supreme Court, staking claim over 800 villages spread across Gulbarga, Karwar and Belagavi. The legal battle continues to the day.

In November 2014, Belgaum was renamed by Karnataka government. On its part as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where legislature session is held once a year. 

Political aspects of the dispute

Pro-Marathi Maharashtrathe Ekikaran Samiti (MES), was formed in 1948 to oppose the Belagavi accession to Karnataka. Incidents of violence between the pro-Maharashtra and pro-Kannada groups are now common. In 2005, when then Belagavi City Mayor Vijay More and the Belagavi Corporation passed a resolution to merge the district with Maharashtra, pro-Karnataka Karnataka Rakshana Vedike smeared black paint on his face.

In December 2019, Shiv Sena activists burnt an effigy of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and stopped screening of a Kannada movie in Maharashtra's Kolhapur after comments by some pro-Karnataka organisations over Belagavi. Kannada organisations had staged a protest in Belagavi by burning the effigy of CM Uddhav Thackeray. He had called the land 'Karnataka-occupied Maharashtra', as reported by the Times of India.

In December 2019, Yediyurappa had declared that not even an inch of the state's land would be given away and accused his Maharashtra counterpart Thackeray of stoking the Belagavi issue for political gains, as there were protests by the ruling Shiv Sena workers.

-Inputs from PTI