Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, on Wednesday, described the centre’s stand against Maharashtra on the border dispute a great insult to the lakhs of people who sacrificed their blood for statehood.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, on Wednesday, described the centre’s stand against Maharashtra on the border dispute a great insult to the lakhs of people who sacrificed their blood for statehood.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, he said, “What else should one expect from the Congress leadership? State leaders have no spine. They are used to wagging their tails before Delhi leaders. History is witness to the stepmotherly treatment meted out to the state during Jawaharlal Nehru’s regime.”
The Sena leader wondered why the centre woke up so late to dismiss the creation of states on language lines. He said, “They have the audacity to dismiss language as a criterion when it comes to justifying the demands of Marathi speaking people living in Belgaum, Karvar and Gulbarga to merge with Maharashtra.”
On a sarcastic note he said, “If language cannot be the criterion, are they going to dismantle all boundaries?”
Thackeray recalled how Shiv Sena had waged a relentless battle for the merger of 865 villages along the Karnataka border into Maharashtra. He said 69 Sainiks lost their lives during the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute in the past. We spent three months in prison. Mumbai was burning for 10 days as agitations seized the commercial capital.
He urged Sena workers to gear up for another battle ahead. The border dispute has been in existence for more than 50 years. The Sena has always been on the forefront fighting for the cause of Marathi speaking people living in neighbouring Karnataka.
According to Thackeray, “By keeping the issue pending for several decades, the centre has inflicted more atrocities against the Marathi speaking people that on Karnataka.”
He also blamed the state Congress leadership for not displaying political will to pursue the matter with the centre. He pointed out,
“It was pointless to expect anything different from a Congress regime at the centre which has never shown any concern for welfare of Maharashtra.”
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