Maharashtra Cabinet ministers on Sunday sported black bands while carrying out official duties to express solidarity with Belagavi’s Marathi speaking community which observes Karnataka Rajyotsava, the formation day of Karnataka on November 1, as a ‘black day’.
Maharashtra claims Belagavi, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, but currently a district of Karnataka, on linguistic grounds. The dispute between the two States over Belagavi and other border areas is pending before the Supreme Court for many years.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said the State government’s resolve is to pave the way for a united Maharashtra that includes the territories of Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani. “I extend open support to the ongoing fight of the people in the border areas. This fight will not end till the Marathi speaking region becomes a part of Maharashtra,” said Mr. Pawar.
Black balloons released
In its meeting last week, the State Cabinet decided to support the Marathi community living in the border areas by sporting a black badge. Maharashtra Water Resources Minister and NCP State president Jayant Patil was spotted on Sunday sporting a black badge while performing his official duties, while State Urban Development Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde released black balloons in Thane.
Mr. Patil said NCP workers and all ministers in the State government were sporting black bands to express solidarity with their brethren in the border areas. “Atrocities against Marathi speaking people by Karnataka are continuing even though the case is pending in the Supreme Court,” Mr. Patil alleged, while expressing confidence that Belagavi and other border areas comprising Marathi speaking people will be part of Maharashtra.
Mr. Shinde and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, in a letter to the Marathi speaking people of Karnataka, said the Maharashtra government is committed towards ensuring that their demands for education, social justice, and conservation of Marathi language are met.
Last year, the Maharashtra government appointed the two ministers as co-coordinators to oversee its efforts to expedite the case related to the boundary dispute. “We both are small soldiers of this movement to include these areas into Maharashtra, which is indebted to the sacrifice and courage of the local Marathi population,” the leaders said in the letter.
The ministers also promised to the Marathi community in Karnataka the delivery of benefits under schemes of the State government’s School and Higher Education, Transport, Social Justice, Home and Marathi language departments.
The Maharashtra government has reportedly taken the decision to sport the black bands based on a request by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) in Belagavi. The organisation has stepped up pressure for the integration of Marathi speaking areas with Maharashtra since its launch in 1948. The MES has been spearheading the movement in Karnataka.
Since the State’s formation on November 1, 1956, MES leaders and its members in Belagavi have been observing Karnataka Rajyotsava as a ‘black day’, to express their dissatisfaction on their inclusion in Karnataka. The district, previously a part of the Bombay State, was integrated into Karnataka (then known as Mysore State) when the States were linguistically reorganised. The period between the 1960s and 1980s saw violent protests and tension on the border. The single-point demand of the MES is that Belagavi should be merged with Maharashtra.
‘True love for Marathi’
In a telephonic conversation with the members of the unification committee, Mr. Shinde assured them of full support from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The ministers said people in Maharashtra should learn from those in the border areas what it means to have true love for Marathi language and culture. Maharashtra considers everyone in the border areas who speaks Marathi irrespective of his/her caste, creed and religion as its own, the ministers said.
“We consider providing them representation and involvement in social, cultural and political fields as very important and will take policy decisions from time-to-time,” they said. “The inclusion of the Marathi speaking areas into Maharashtra will be a dream come true for the 12 crore population in the State. We stand with you till the moment that golden day comes,” the letter said. “Till that historic moment turns into a reality, Maharashtra would continue to remain in solidarity with the Marathi-speaking people in the border areas,” it said.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut told reporters that the demand for inclusion of the Marathi speaking areas of Karnataka into Maharashtra was a fight for the rights of people living along the border areas of the two States. “The 60-year-old fight was for the rights of the Marathi speaking people living in Belagavi and other areas along the Karnataka-Maharashtra border. We need not be told that the sun and moon will continue to exist,” he said.
‘Right to fight’
“This 60-year-old fight is the right of the Marathi people. Their wish to be part of Maharashtra should be respected. If the Kannada-speaking people on Karnataka-Andhra or Kerala borders wish to be part of Karnataka, their wishes, too, should be fulfilled,” he said.
Mr. Raut was responding to a reported statement of Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi that Belagavi will continue to be a part of Karnataka till the sun and moon exist.
Maharashtra Congress Minister Satej Patil in a tweet in Marathi said, “Let people say anything they want. We have decided. Sanyukta Maharashtra [United Maharashtra] will be a reality with the inclusion of Belagavi.”
State Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif tweeted that the State Cabinet ministers were sporting black bands and conducting their official duties to express solidarity with people in the border areas.
(With PTI inputs)
