Vice president Hamid Ansari’s office addressed a letter to ‘The deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police, Belgaum, Maharashtra’.
Vice president Hamid Ansari’s office has committed a faux pas that threatens to reopen wounds between Kannadigas and Maharashtrians. Ansari’s office addressed a letter to ‘The deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police, Belgaum, Maharashtra’.
It has stirred a hornet’s nest in Bangalore. Intellectuals, politicians and pro-Kannada activists demanded the vice president’s office apologise over the “irresponsible” faux pas and clarify that Belgaum is in Karnataka.
Belgaum has remained a bone of contention between Karnataka and Maharashtra for decades, with a considerably large Marathi-speaking population living there. The Mahajan committee stated that Belgaum was a part of Karnataka but Maharashtra opposed it. The matter is before the Supreme Court.
Kannada Development Authority chairman Mukhyamantri Chandru said, “It is ridiculous. We condemn this. We will write to the vice president and PM and demand an apology.”
“The vice president’s office should tender an apology and action should be initiated against the erring officials. The government of India should clarify its stand about the border issue. Maharashtra has been again and again raising the issue. The central government should not entertain this,” water resources minister Basavaraja Bommai said.
He added, “The Centre should exercise its inherent power and resolve the issue. Belgaum is an integral part of Karnataka, the issue is settled as per law (Mahajan Commission), but I don’t know why the vice president’s office has committed such a blunder.”
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and other pro-Kannada organisations staged a protest against the “mischief”. KRV chief TA Narayanagowda called for a state-wide protest and demanded that the state government write to the Centre, reminding it that Belgaum is part and parcel of Karnataka.
“Kannadigas should protest. It is very dangerous. It was intentional. The Mahajan committee report has declared that Belgaum is a part of Karnataka state. Still, Maharashtra is claiming it. The central government should clear the border issue” said historian Chidananda Murthy.
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who was in Bangalore on a private visit, said he would abide by the Supreme Court’s decision on the border dispute. “There are several complaints from Marathi-speaking people about their problems in Belgaum. The Karnataka government should take serious action to redress their grievances in the border districts,” he said.
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