Belgaum border dispute

According to the 1881 linguistic census, the total population of the Belgavi district was 864,014. Of this 556,397 were Kannada speakers comprising 64.39 percent, while 225,008 or 26.04 percent spoke Marathi. Further the census notes that the Marathi speakers were mostly born outside of Belgavi indicating a significant migration in the previous decades.

After India became independent in 1947, the Belgavi district (which was in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency) became a part of the Bombay State. In 1948, the Belgavi Municipality that was dominated by Marathi speaking politicians requested the Indian Dominion, Indian Constituent Assembly, and the Boundary Commission to include the Belgaum Municipal District in the proposed Samyukta Maharashtra state for the Marathi speakers.[1]

In accordance with the established policy of bifurcation on a linguistic majority basis, in 1956, the Belgavi district was incorporated into the newly formed Mysore state (now Karnataka) with the passage of the States Reorganization Act, adjoining areas that had a majority of Marathi speaking citizens were included in the newly formed Maharashtra state. The Act, which reorganised India's states along linguistic and administrative lines, included Belgavi in the Kannada-majority Karnataka, the district had most of the Marathi-speaking population hence the 'dispute';[2][3]

According to the Belgavi Gazette published by the British, in the 1881 census, Belgavi had 864,014 people, of which 556,397 were Kannada-speaking (64.39%), while 225,008 were Marathi-speaking (26.04%).

Belgaum historically has been a part of the Kannada region and has seen many such dynasties ruling over it. But the scenario in the region changed in the 18th century as in other parts of India. This was the period which saw the expansion of the Maratha empire under the Peshwas which culminated in realising the famous saying of "Attock to Cuttack". Hence a large chunk of Karnataka region formed a part of the then Maratha empire and was called the "Southern Maratha Country" (most of North Karnataka). By the time the British came to power, this region was dotted by the remnants of Maratha empire ruling over their jagirs and states. But the language of the land essentially remained Kannada. This has been summed up by historian and civil servant of the Bombay presidency John Faithfull Fleet in his book The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency (1894), which forms a part of the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency (Vol-1, Part-II, Book-III).[4] The first page of the book explains the ground realities of the time, which goes as,

In defining the limits of the Kanarese language, on the west and north may be designated "by a line drawn from Sadashivgad (Karwar), to the westward of Belgaum, Hukkeri through Kagal and Kurundwad, passing between 'Keligaon' and 'Pandegaon' through Brahmapuri on Bhima and Sholapur and thence east, to the neighbourhood of Bidar. This however wrongly excludes Kolhapur. As for Sholapur which now officially counts as a Marathi District, Kanarese is still, to a great extent the vernacular of south east corner of it. And there are Kanarese inscriptions of the Western Chalukyas, Kalachurya and Devagiri Yadavas of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and some later ones, at Sholapur itself, and at Kudal and Mohol in that district, and at Karajgi, Kudal, and Tadwal in the Akalkot state.

...In official language the four recognised Kanarese districts of this presidency viz. Belgaum, Bijapur and Dharwar collectorates together with the Kolhapur, Miraj and other Native states called the "Southern Maratha Country". A more misleading appellation, however it originated, could not well have been devised. It is true that, in one of the earliest inscriptions of Pulakesin II, this part of the country is included in what was known then and even many centuries before his time as Maharashtra. But this term meaning literally "the great country", does not inherently imply any of the racial and linguistic peculiarities which are now naturally attached to the terms 'Maratha' and 'Marathi', derived from it. In the whole area of so-called Southern Maratha country, not a single Marathi inscription has been discovered, of a greater age than two or three centuries. With the exception that two Prakrit records have been obtained at Banawasi in North Kanara and 'Malavalli' in Mysore, and that a few Prakrit words occur here and there in other records, the inscriptions are all either in pure Sanskrit or pure Kanarese, or in the two languages combined. This fact speaks of itself, as to what the vernacular of the country was in early times. In the present day, the people and the language of British districts are essentially Kanarese; and the Kanarese people and language have been displaced, to a certain extent, by the Marathi people and language in the Native States, only because those States were established by the aggressions of the Marathas from the north, whose local influence proved to be greater than that of the native rulers whom they dispossessed. Even in the Native States, and in Marathi official correspondence, the Political Agent at Kolhapur is, to the present day always addressed as the Political Agent, not of the "Dakshina Maharashtra" or "Southern Maratha Country, but of the "Karavira Ilakha and the Karnataka Prant.

.

Hence when linguistic reorganisation of states was decided upon, this was the background available to the Commission as a part of official records and language was the basis. As a result, the resultant Maharashtra didn't include the 'Maratha'-ruled areas of Baroda, Indore or Gwalior except for Kolhapur as the Commission took into consideration all the changes in the region over a long period of time and not just recent changes in demography.

Following a memorandum from the Maharashtra government on 23 June 1957, the Government of India constituted Mahajan Committee on 5 June 1960 to look into the case. The four member Committee consisted of two representatives from the Maharashtra Government, and two from the Mysore state Government. But it failed to reach an agreement.[5] Maharashtra wanted to apply following points and agreed to hand over Kannada majority villages to Mysore:

1. Villages as a unit
2. Geographical proximity/integrity
3. Marathi or Kannada speakers "relative majority"; in case of villages with no population, it should be merged with that state where the owners of that land reside
4. People's wish

Mysore Government, on the other hand, wanted status quo to be maintained.

Maharashtra leader Senapati Bapat resorted on hunger strike demanding the government to form a commission which would address border dispute. At Maharashtra's insistence, the Government of India constituted the Mahajan Commission on 25 October 1966. V.P. Naik, Maharashtra's Chief Minister at that time, announced in public on 9 November 1967 that Maharashtra will adhere to Mahajan Commission's report, regardless of the outcome.[6] The commission was headed by the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Meher Chand Mahajan. The commission, upon review of Maharashtra's claims, recommended the exchange of several villages in Belgaum district between the two states, but rejected Maharashtra's claim on Belgaum city.[7]

The Mahajan Commission received 2240 memoranda and interviewed 7572 people and submitted its report. Maharashtra had asked for 814 villages besides Belgaum. It was given 262 villages including Nippani, Khanapur and Nandgad. Mysore State had claimed 516 villages, of which Maharashtra admitted that 260 were Kannada-speaking ones. It was awarded 247 villages including claim to Solapur.[8]

The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) came into being in 1948 for the sole purpose of getting Belgaum into Maharashtra.[11] [12]

The first Belgaum City Corporation (BCC) elections were held in December 1983. The MES-dominated BCC made demands for transfer of Belgaum to Maharashtra in 1990, 1996 and 2001. More than 250 MES-dominated gram and taluk panchayats, and some other municipalities (such as neighbouring Khanapur) passed similar resolutions.[1] In 1986 violence on the issue lead to large-scale arson and nine deaths in Belgaum.

During H.D. Deve Gowda's tenure as Chief Minister of Karnataka (1994–96), Karnataka organisation called Kannada Cheluvarigara Sangha submitted a memorandum to the Karnataka Government, asking it to set up of large industries so that 20,000 to 30,000 people would get employment.[1]

The pro-Marathi groups protested against the Government notices and records not being translated in Marathi. The Officials Language Act, 1963 and 1981, states that "areas where the linguistic minorities constitute 15 per cent or more of the local population arrangements have to be made to translate government circulars, orders, extracts and land records into the minority language". In a letter (DO No RB Kannada CR 09/2000-01), Belgaum's Deputy Commissioner, Shalini Rajneesh reasoned that while suitable instructions had been given to the local authorities for the translation of documents into Marathi, it did not happened because the staff was "overloaded with the basic work to be carried out in the official language, that is, Kannada".[1]

On 27 October 2005, the MES-controlled BCC, amidst strong opposition by the Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and few independents, passed a resolution requesting the Karnataka State government and the Supreme Court of India to merge disputed border areas in the districts of Belgavi (including Khanapur, Nipani and Belgavi city), Uttara Kannada (including Karwar and Haliyal) and Bidar (including Bhalki, Aurad and Basavakalyan) with Maharashtra. However, protesting against the resolution the entire opposition parties including Congress, BJP and a few independents boycotted the meeting. The meeting also witnessed heavy verbal clashes between ruling party and the opposition. Assistant Executive Officer, N.D. Achanur advised MES members not to pass a resolution which was against the interest of the state. When MES members did not listen to his advice, the officer walked out of the office. The officials of various departments present to provide details of their departments also walked out.[13]

Some members of a pro-Karnataka group called Kannada Rakshana Vedike manhandled the BCC mayor Vijay More, former mayor Shivaji Sunthakar and former legislator B I Patil, when the three were standing outside the Karnataka Legislators' Home in Bangalore. The attackers tore Vijay More's shirt and daubed him with black paint.

On 10 November, the Mayor was served with a showcause notice by the Karnataka Government seeking why the resolution should not be cancelled under Section 98 and 99 of the KMC Act. On 17 November, the government cancelled the resolution, without waiting for the Mayor's reply. On 17 November, it served another notice that sought an explanation from the Mayor as to why the BCC should not be dissolved under Section 99 of the KMC Act.

On 19 November, T N Chaturvedi, the Governor of Karnataka, criticised BCC during a public function. A group of Kannada organisations set 22 November as the deadline for dissolving BCC and threatened to call a Statewide bandh on 24 November if this was not done. On 21 November 2005, the Karnataka government dissolved the Council, under pressure from Kannada activists, citing violation of Section 18 of the KMC Act.[1]

The MES secretary, Maloji Astekar, insisted that the BCC resolution was in accordance with the provisions of the KMC Act, 1976, and the Fundamental Rights enshrined under Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India. He accused the Karnataka Government of "step-motherly treatment". The legal team of MES pointed out that both the cancellation of the resolution and the dissolution of the Council were done without giving 15 days' time as was stipulated in the notice to enable the Mayor to submit his explanations. MES called a bandh in protest. A delegation of MES leaders visited Mumbai and met Maharashtra leaders, including Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Deshmukh wrote letters to Karnataka Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing displeasure over the action taken against the BCC.[1]

The former mayor of Belgavi, Vijay More, a Dalit, broke down in front of the media in Mumbai on while narrating the atrocities heaped on him by 30 Kannada fanatics. The incident which had happened right in the front of Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore when Kannada activists blackened his face and mercilessly beat him up resulting in a hand fracture. The attackers were angry with a resolution moved by More demanding the inclusion of Belgaum in Maharashtra. When he returned to Belgaum and narrated the incident to fellow corporators, one of them Satish Chavan suffered a massive heart attack and died. In the press conference in Mumbai he broke into tears and said "All of us are entitled to our opinions. But physical attacks are no way of settling differences", he stated.

Vasant Patil, former MLA from Belgavi, said for the past several decades the Marathi-speaking population of Belgaum (population 5 lakh) have been putting up with a host of atrocities heaped on them by successive governments of Karnataka. "But we are determined to get justice", he added.[14]

In December 2005, attempts were also made by Congress led government at the Centre to rekindle discussions on the boundary dispute with the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[17] But even this effort proved futile as Karnataka continued to press for the implementation of the report and Maharashtra continued to stake its claim on Belgaum city and few other parts of Karnataka.

Finally, on 15 March 2006, the Maharashtra government filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Maharashtra staked a claim over Belgaum city citing, in its opinion "the feeling of insecurity among the Marathi speaking people living in Karnataka, in the recent days".[7] Belgaum district along with Belgaum city continues to be a part of Karnataka state while Maharashtra awaits the Supreme Court's verdict.

The Supreme Court began its hearing on Maharashtra's petition on 17 January 2007.

• Adv Ram M. Apte (4 November 2010). "Maharashtra Karnataka Border Dispute".

• Belgaum merger: flogging a dead horse