All about Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute

Controversial remarks by politicians of Maharashtra and Karnataka over the longstanding dispute of Belagavi Belgaum a border district in Karnataka have flaredup tensions between the two states The remarks also led to violence and vandalism prompting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to step inShah held talks with both Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and said that lsquoboundary disputes cannot be settled on the streets but only through constitutional meansrsquoIn this piece midday explains the issue ndash from its root to the recent flareupThe disputeThe dispute has its roots in the States Reorganisation Act 1956 ndash that made extensive changes in organising the boundaries of Independent Indiarsquos states and territories on linguistic lines Following Indiarsquos independence Belagavi district of the then Bombay Presidency became a part of Bombay state In 1956 with the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act Belagavi with its majority Marathi speaking population was incorporated into the then Mysore state ndash the presentday Karnataka Maharashtra also got hold of the adjoining areas with majority Marathi speaking populationOpposing the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act Maharashtra government requested readjustment of the border as it submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1957 invoking Section 21 2 b of the said ActMaharashtra claimed 865 villages including Belagavi Naipani and Karwar Karnataka then Mysore on the other hand wanted the existing status to be maintained On October 25 1966 by constituting the Mahajan Commission ndash led by the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Meher Chand Mahajan ndash Indian Union government attempted to resolve the dispute but that resulted in no attainable outcomeThe Mahajan commission in its report maintained that Belgaum Belagavi should remain a part of Karnataka The panel further recommended 247 villages including Akkalakote Jatta and Sholapur to be a part of Karnataka and 264 villages including Nippani Khanapur and Nandagad to be a part of MaharashtraAlso read Yearender 2022 From Mulayam Singh Yadav to Mukta Tilak Indian political leaders who passed away this yearMaharashtra rather ran counter to the commissionrsquos report and termed it biased Karnataka wanted any of the two ways to be followed either put the commissionrsquos report into action or maintain the status quo Though the Mahajan commissionrsquos report was tabled in the parliament in 1970 it was never discussedIn March 2004 the Maharashtra government approached the Supreme Court of India filing a plea challenging the implementation of the State Reorganisation Act 1956 In 2005 the then Congressled UPA government attempted to look into the matter by holding talks between the chief ministers of the two states and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but couldnrsquot reach a possible agreementThe politics around the dispute continued political partiesrsquo manifestos widely stressed on the issue in both states Apart from core political parties pressure groups like ndash Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike actively advocated for their part of the matter in question Karnataka also built a second legislature in the Belagavi district holding a fiveday assembly session in Belagavi in 2006 Till today the dispute is still hanging in the air fuelling socialpolitical controversyThe flareupIn November Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called for a meeting in Mumbai addressing the MaharashtraKarnataka border dispute In the same meeting he announced to provide pension and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya scheme benefits to whom he termed as lsquofreedom fightersrsquo in Marathispeaking Belagavi He also appointed a ministerial committee to look into the matter in questionThis received flak from Karnataka with its CM Basavaraj announcing grants for Kannada schools in Maharashtra and that Karnataka was claiming 40 villages in Maharashtra And this led to further escalation of the issue ndash as political leaders from both the states started to speak up publicly on the matterIn response Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that the state government will not let an inch of land go to KarnatakaMaharashtra ministers Shambhuraj Desai and Chandrakant Patilrsquos plan to visit villages claimed by their state meet leaders of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and visit families of those killed in police firing in June 1986 while protesting Kannada being made a compulsory language in schools there added to the tensionsOn the same day violence and protests erupted in and around Belgaum with police arresting hundreds Vehicles at the KarnatakaMaharashtra border areas were attacked by political cadres on both sides This led to the ban on the entry of Maharashtra ministers ndash Patil and Desai ndash and MP Dhairyasheel Mane to the districtOn December 13 Shiv Sena Shinde faction leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Shewale met president Droupadi Murmu to seek her interference in the disputeOn December 14 Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai Maharashtra Deputy CM Fadnavis and Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra were also a part of the meetingAddressing the issue Shah said that both the states agreed to form a committee headed by a senior IPS officer to maintain law and order in both the states Shah said that six ministers three from each state will hold talks on the issues related to the matter ldquoAll should wait for the outcome of the discussions of the committee formed to resolve this issue