Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 19: Ignoring the assurance it had given to the union home minister Amit Shah, the Karnataka government on Monday stopped the visit of a delegation from Maharashtra to the disputed town of Belagavi where the winter session of the Karnataka Assembly began in a stormy note with the opposition Congress opposing the installation of a portrait of Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar.
Even after Amit Shah intervened in the border dispute between the two states and the chief ministers of both the states agreed with him not to precipitate the crisis and wait for a Supreme Court judgement on the issue, Karnataka police stopped a delegation from Maharashtra from crossing the border into Belagavi district on Monday.
Though it was claimed that both the chief ministers had assured the union home minister that delegations from each state would be allowed unrestricted visit to the other state, Karnataka police put barricades across the road on the bridge over Doodha Ganga river in Kuganoli village on the border of the two states. A group from Maharashtra comprising members of the BJP and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) faction raised slogans against the Karnataka Government and Kannada organisations.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramanagouda Hatti asked the group to go back as the district administration had promulgated prohibitory orders. The group relented after an hour. They were taken away by the Maharashtra police. Movement of vehicles was disrupted for over 90 minutes.
The incident had its echo both in the Maharashtra Assembly and Parliament where the leaders from various parties questioned the actions of the Karnataka government in stopping the delegation from Maharashtra entering Belagavi. The Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and the deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also criticised the actions by the Karnataka police in preventing the Maharashtra leaders from entering the state despite the understanding reached at the recent chief ministers’ conference in the presence of Amit Shah.
Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction member Arvind Sawant on Monday condemned the “ban” on the entry of party MP Dhairyasheel Mane into Karnataka’s Belagavi district and called it an attack on the Constitution.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, the South Mumbai MP also called for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention in the matter and demanded protection for Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti’s leaders following Karnataka police’s action against some of them during the protest in Belagavi.
“The ban on the entry of leaders from Maharashtra is an attack on the Constitution. The worst is that our Home Minister is being insulted by non-compliance with the advice that he gave to the chief ministers of Karnataka and Maharashtra for maintaining peace,” Sawant said. “Karnataka chief minister is not following his (Shah’s) advice. We vehemently condemn it and demand that the Union Home Minister immediately intervene,” Sawant added.
Mane was recently appointed as the chief of an expert committee formed by the Maharashtra government regarding a writ petition in the Supreme Court on the border dispute with Karnataka. He had requested the Belagavi administration to make arrangements for his visit to the city. However, the district authorities banned his entry, saying a “possible inflammatory speech” by him might create law and order problems.
Raising the issue in the Maharashtra Assembly on the first day of the state legislature’s winter session in Nagpur, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said Shiv Sena MP Dhairyasheel Mane (of the Shinde faction) was stopped from entering Belagavi in Karnataka, despite the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the boundary dispute.
“When it was decided before Amit Shah ji that they (people) will not be stopped, how can a district collector stop the MP (Mane) from entering there. We should not tolerate this high handedness. The CM and DyCM should take a firm stand. When (Karnataka Chief Minister B S) Bommai had accepted it then the collector did not listen to Bommai,” Mr Pawar said.
Responding to it, Mr Shinde said there can be no dispute over the fact that the issue raised by Mr Pawar is important in terms of Maharashtra. “For the first time, the Union home minister intervened in the matter and mediated. He called a meeting and this has happened for the first time. He has taken the matter seriously,” the Chief Minister said. “We should stand by the people residing in border areas, back their struggle and act in a way that doesn’t hurt them,” he added.
Mr Shinde said the state government urged the Centre that this issue is related to the self-respect of Maharashtra and that it should take a firm stand in the favour of Maharashtra and people residing in the border areas. “We said vehicles from Maharashtra are vandalised and attacked. This is not in sync with law and order and democracy. Such things should not happen because there could be a reaction to an action,” the Chief Minister said. The Union Home Minister also gave instructions that such things should not happen since the matter is (pending) before the Supreme Court, Mr Shinde said.
Stating that Maharashtra should stand firmly with the people in the Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka, Shinde and appealed to political parties not to behave in a way that would hurt them. The Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state government would initiate a special programme for the development of villages located along the border and resolve their pending issues. The Maharashtra government was making efforts for the release of the people and leaders detained in Karnataka, he said amid the ongoing boundary dispute between the two states.
In the Karnataka Assembly in Belagavi, chief minister Basavraj Bommai defended the police action at the border. Responding to a question regarding the Maharashtra MP wanting to visit Belagavi, Bommai said, “we have restrained him. Not only that, another three to four people wanted to enter, we have restrained everybody. We will not allow anyone to enter Karnataka unlawfully.”
But unconcerned about the developments at the border, the Karnataka Assembly session began in a stormy note over the portrait of Savarkar with the Congress leaders claiming that he had nothing to do with Karnataka and instead of the Hindutva ideologue portraits of other leaders who have contributed for the Karnataka’s cause should be installed in the Assembly precincts.
KPCC president D. K. Shivakumar argued that there is no connection between Savarkar and Karnataka. He accused the BJP government of unveiling Savarkar’s portrait at this juncture to divert people’s attention from the problems plaguing the State, including corruption and maladministration. Later, the opposition Congress staged a protest at the entrance of SVS demanding portraits of several other personalities.
Earlier, Bommai and speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri unveiled portraits of many leaders including Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Basaveshwara, B.R. Ambedkar, Subhash Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda besides Savarkar in the Assembly Hall. The opposition Congress skipped the portrait unveiling programme. Instead, they staged a protest at the entrance of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha seeking portraits of various other prominent personalities.
