MES-Shiv Sena (UBT) members protest at Karnataka-Maharashtra border demanding merger of Marathi-speaking areas

Belagavi: Members of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti in association with Shiv Sena (UBT) held a protest at Shinoli in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra on the opening day of the Karnataka Assembly's winter session being held in this border district headquarters town on Monday, according to an MES leader.

MES has been demanding merger of several Marathi speaking areas and villages of the state with Maharashtra. "We could not hold a demonstration at Belagavi because the police denied us permission but we did stage a protest at Shinoli in Maharashtra," MES convener Suraj Kanbarkar said.

The protesters raised pro-Maharashtra slogans at the protest site and demanded that the ongoing Assembly session at the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' in Belagavi, where the government holds winter sessions, bordering Maharashtra be stopped immediately.

They also appealed to the Centre to intervene and take steps for merger of Belagavi district and certain regions in its neighbouring districts in Karnataka with substantial Marathi population with Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, various organisations are staging protests here including Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha led by Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, Safai Karmachari, Mundargi Horata Samithi and a teachers’ association to highlight their demands.

In view of the session in progress, section 144 of the CrPC has been clamped at least one kilometre around the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha'. At least 5,000 policemen have been deployed in and around 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha'.

The border issue dates back to 1957 when States were reorganised on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a significant Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking border villages which are currently a part of Karnataka.

Karnataka maintains that the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report is final.

In an assertion about Belagavi being an integral part of the State, Karnataka built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the State Legislature and Secretariat, in Bengaluru.