Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who strongly condemned acts of vandalism in Belagavi and desecration of statues in Belagavi and Bengaluru, said the Director General of Police of Karnataka would speak to his counterpart in Maharashtra about the safety of Kannadigas there.
Speaking to presspersons in Belagavi on Saturday, the Chief Minister said: “The responsibility of maintaining law and order in the State is ours. Similarly, the Government of Maharashtra has to maintain law and order there.” This came in the wake of reports about vehicles from Karnataka and Kannadigas being targeted in Maharashtra. “Our Home Minister will also take up the issue with his counterpart in Maharashtra and if necessary, I will speak to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra,” he said.
On Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s call that Marathas should unite, Mr. Bommai said that responsible people should not incite sentiments. “Chhatrapati Shivaji, Sangolli Rayanna, and Kittur Rani Chennamma fought against the British. We will be doing a disservice to them if we fight to divide society. Nobody should incite people to take law into their hands,” he said.
Mr. Bommai said he had asked the Home Minister to take stern action against all those who had indulged in vandalism and that a thorough investigation would be carried out into the incident as it had happened when the legislature session was underway at Belagavi.
He said he would ask the police to find a long-term solution to the recurring problem aimed at disturbing peace and harmony by inciting people and dividing them on the basis of language.
Karnataka Border Struggle Committee headed by B.K.R. Rao Byndoor condemned burning of Kannada flag at Kolhapur in Maharashtra and the damage to the statue of Sangolli Rayanna in Belagavi.
