Belagavi border dispute

The Belgaum district was incorporated into the newly formed Mysore state (now Karnataka) with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act (1956), which reorganised India's states along linguistic lines. The Maharashtra government contested the inclusion, claiming the district for itself on the grounds of its opinion that the district had more Marathi speaking people than Kannada speaking people.

Four member commission

Following a memorandum from the Maharashtra government on 23rd June, 1957, the Government of India constituted a four-member committee on June 5th, 1960 to look into the case. The four member Mahajan committee gave a report which went against Maharashtra.

Mahajan Commission

Maharashtra insisted the Central Government of India which eventually constituted the Mahajan Commission on October 25, 1966. The commission was headed by the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice Meherchand 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.

The Mahajan commission received 2240 memoranda and interviewed 7572 people and submitted it's report. Maharashtra asked for 814 villages besides Belgaum. Was given 262 villages including Nippani, Khanapur and Nandgad.Karnataka (then called Mysore) had claimed 516 villages, of which Maharashtra admitted that 260 were Kannada-speaking ones. It was awarded 247 villages including claim to Solapur. .

Excerpts of the Mahajan Report

Excerpts from the Mahajan committee report regarding rejection of Maharashtra's claim over Belgaum:

Maharashtra’s claim for Belgaum is of recent origin. Though tabled in Parliament, Maharashtra MPs, especially from the treasury benches, did not vote against the amendment of Belgaum being part of their state. Belgaum is a cosmopolitan city. In 1920, when the AICC session was held in Belgaum, not a single leader from Maharashtra including N C Kelkar demanded that it be part of that state. Geographically, Kannada areas surround the city of Belgaum on three sides and by a smattering of villages belonging to Maharashtra on the fourth. Reorganisation will cause extreme hardship. Status quo should be maintained. From the records of rights of Belgaum city, it is seen that a majority of lands belong to Kannadigas. All the original records in the offices of the mamlatdar and collector are in Kannada. “On the appreciation of the whole material and assessing it objectively, I have reached the conclusion that I cannot recommend the inclusion of Belgaum city in the state of Maharashtra. .

The Maharashtra government refuted the recommendations of the report and demanded another review of the issue. The Karnataka government,continued to press for the implementation of the report. The issue kept coming up every now and then under successive governments at the center, however as of writing, the matter remains unresolved.

Maharashtra's petition in the Supreme Court

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 . 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 March 15 2006, the Maharashtra government filed a petition in the Supreme Court. This time however, there was a major difference in Maharashtra's line of reasoning. Unlike during the Mahajan Commission, this time around, Maharashtra did not use the issue linguistic demographics(during the Mahajan commission, Maharashtra had staked its claim on Belgaum city on the basis of its opinion that Marathi speakers outnumbered Kannada speaking people in Belgaum city and few other areas).

In its petition, 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". Belgaum district along with Belgaum city continues to be a part of Karnataka state while Maharashtra awaits Supreme Court's verdict.

Recent developments

In response to the proceedings in the Supreme Court, the Government of India filed an affidavit on Aug 28, 2006. In its affidavit, the Government of India has told the Supreme Court that Maharashtra's suit was 'not maintainable in law'. Further, the Government has noted that Maharashtra's suit is highly belated and therefore barred by limitation.

In response to this, the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi(MES) has reacted sharply and called a meeting of all political parties in Mumbai.All political parties in Maharashtra have criticised Government of India's stance.
In a recent development, the central government, injecting yet another controversy has withdrawn its "prepared affidavit" to the Supreme court and is in the process of producing a new one. This move comes close on heels to protests by Maharashtra government which criticised the central government stand in the August 24 statement served on the two states which had completely endorsed Karnataka’s stand. Further developments are awaited. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday said that the five-day special session of the legislature beginning from September 25 in Belgaum will discuss the problems faced by the North Karnataka.In response to that Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and other pro-Marathi groups have decided to celebrate 'Simamelava'.It is expected to attracted huge responses from Maharashtrians from Kolhapur, Sangli, Miraj, Pune, Bidar, Bhalki and Santpur.
On September 25th, 2006, Chiseling its name in the annals of the Karnataka Legislature, Belgaum, the bone of contention between the State and neighbouring Maharashtra, hosted the five-day special session of both the Houses of the Legislature, amidst vociferous protests from the Maharashtra Ekikarana Samiti (MES). The Council met in the afternoon, with almost all the members making an unanimous demand for announcing Belgaum as the second capital of the State and its overall development.

The 'mahamelava' organised by Maharashtra Ekikaran samiti got a huge response.Maharashtra's Home-minister R.R.Patil said Maharashtrians and Mahaharashtra government will support residents of Belgaum in their struggle.He said its high time to keep differences aside and get united to fulfill the dream of 'Sanyukta Maharashtra'.Shivsena, NCP and MES leaders unanimously ridiculed Karnataka's assembly session and vowed to merge Belgaum and adjoining areas to Maharashtra.

The Karnataka Chief minister will soon make an announcement regarding constructing a Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum from where a session will be held every year. Belgaum will get new name as Belagavi ASAP.

A day after the special session of the Karnataka Legislature passed an unanimous resolution on the boundary row with Maharashtra, the state government on Tuesday decided to take an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his intervention to settle the dispute.

As the boundary issue hotted up, the government also decided to write to the Prime Minister and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on alleged "provocative and uncalled for statements" made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil on the dispute at a convention in Belgaum.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy would shortly lead an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister to demand that the Centre act at the earliest to end the boundary row by implementing the Mahajan Commission report.

"There should not be any delay in implementing the Mahajan report. The state will not pass any more resolutions on the issue," he said, a day after the legislature adopted the fourth resolution on the boundary issue since 1967.

Patil's remarks drew the state's ire, with Yediyurappa saying Karnataka would lodge its protest with Maharashtra demanding action against him for making "uncalled for" remarks that would vitiate peace between the two states.

At a convention organised by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi, Patil had said his state was ready to exchange Kannada-speaking villages with Karnataka if the latter was willing to hand over Marathi-speaking areas.

Karnataka Bundh

On 4th October 2006, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and other kannada activists called for one day bundh from dawn to dusk, which was a great suceess. Barring coastal Karnataka, entire karnataka observed bundh. Silicon city came to stand still for a day on october 4th.The bundh was allegedly supported by Karnataka goverment and Kannada vanadalisers disrupted Belgaum's routine life by threatening and assaulting residents and also defaming saffron flags and Marathi boards which promptly drew reaction from Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti and Shivsainiks.Many Marathi leaders have gone underground and allege Karnataka goverment of torture since the hugely successful 'Simamelava'.

External Links

Reports about the problem

• Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum
• R.R Patil: We will unite and fight!
• Belgaum hosts Karnataka legislature
• Karnataka Government to hold session in Belgaum
• Daily Pudhari's timeline of Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute
• Indian Express report on the Belgaum border dispute and Mahajan Commission
• Pioneer's report on border problem
• Frontline report on Mahajan commission
• The Hindu report on the issue
• Report in the Deccan Herald
• Report in thatskannada.com
• On Belgaum's history - An article in The Hindu

Reports tracking Maharashtra's petition

• Dnaindia's report on the Government's affidavit in the Supreme Court
• Deccan Herald's report on Aug 29 2006
• Times of India report on Aug 29 2006
• Center does a flip flop on boundry issue(Sep 1 2006)