Uddhav seeks UT status for disputed Maha-K'taka border areas

If the long pending issue is not resolved during thisMVA governments tenure, it will never be, he said.In Karnataka, whichever political partys governmentor chief minister take charge, they have one thing in common -atrocities against Marathi people and language, he charged.Marathi people should also unite, he said, adding thatlet us be determined to win.During the book release function, invitees fromBelgaumraised slogans supporting inclusion of the Marathispeaking areas into Maharashtra.The issue is being revived after a long time due tothe new book.

Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Wednesday said areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should bedeclared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives itsfinal verdict on the issue.

Speaking at the launch of a book on the boundarydispute between the two states, Thackeray lashed out at theKarnataka government over alleged atrocities on Marathi-speaking population in those areas, and said there is a needto fight to win the case for their inclusion in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belgaum,Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending themajority of population in these areas is Marathi-speaking.

The case over the dispute between the two states ispending before the Supreme Court for many years.

Thackeray said, ''When the case is being heard in theSupreme Court, the Karnataka government renames Belgaum (asBelagavi) declares it as its second capital, constructs aLegislature building and holds one legislature session there.'' ''Isn't this contempt of court?'' Thackeray asked.

He said the ''Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking areasshould be declared as a Union Territory'' till the SupremeCourt gives its final verdict.

''We have to learn from past experiences and fight towin. The Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking areas will beincluded in Maharashtra,'' he asserted.

The chief minister also targeted the MaharashtraEkikaran Samiti (MES) for allegedly weakening the Marathicause for selfish political interests.

The MES is an organisation fighting for the merger of800-odd villages, where the Marathi-speaking population isdominant, with Maharashtra.

''Earlier, the MES had half-a-dozen MLAs, Belgaum mayorused to be a Marathi-speaking person. The Shiv Sena neverentered the political fray in Belgaum because it did not wantto weaken the MES,'' he said.

Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena formed the Maha VikasAghadi (MVA) with the NCP and the Congress in 2019, said atime-bound action plan is needed to win the legal battle andensure the Marathi-speaking leadership and people in thoseareas of Karnataka remained united.

''Let's take a pledge that we will not rest till wewin. If the long pending issue is not resolved during this(MVA) government's tenure, it will never be,'' he said.

''In Karnataka, whichever political party's governmentor chief minister take charge, they have one thing in common -atrocities against Marathi people and language,'' he charged.

Marathi people should also unite, he said, adding that''let us be determined to win''.

During the book release function, invitees fromBelgaumraised slogans supporting inclusion of the Marathispeaking areas into Maharashtra.

''The issue is being revived after a long time due tothe new book. Our government is determined to resolve thedispute,'' the CM said.

Later, speaking at a meeting of the high-poweredcommittee on the boundary dispute, Thackeray said hisgovernment will vigorously pursue the case in the apex court.

At the same time, the ''tactics'' of the Karnatakagovernment to ''destroy'' Marathi from the boundary areas needto be stopped, the Shiv Sena leader said.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Officeafter the meeting said Thackeray directed the boundary disputecoordinator minister, Eknath Shinde, and the boundary disputecell to follow-up with the legal team and keep contact withdifferent stake-holders.

''When a dispute between two states is in the court,the Centreneeds to take a neutral stand. There should be astatus quo till the court decides on the dispute,'' he said.

The meeting was attended by NCP president Sharad Pawarand senior cabinet members, among others, the statement said.

Earlier, speaking at the book launch event, Pawarsaid the Mahajan Commission was set up (by the Centre in1960s) to study and arrive at a conclusion when (Maharashtraleader) Senapati Bapat began his hunger strike.

''The then Maharashtra chief minister Vasantrao Naikaccepted the formation of the commission and agreed that itsfindings will be binding on the state. But, the commission was100 per cent against Maharashtra,'' said Pawar, a former chiefminister.

''We (Maharashtra) rejected the commission's findings.

Barrister A R Antulay, the former CM, wrote a book dismissingthe Mahajan Commission's report. This book should find amention in the new book (released on Wednesday),'' he said.

Pawar said the Supreme Court is the ''last weapon forthe state'' and Maharashtra should use all its legal acumen towin the case.

''We have to fight to win. There is no other option. Itis good that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is taking a leadin this direction. Maharashtra needs to sink its politicaldifferences and show more unity in this case,'' he said.

The 530-page book, 'Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad:Sangharsh Aani Sankalp' (Maharashtra-Karnataka BoundaryDispute: Struggle and Pledge), compiled and edited byDeepak Pawar, an OSD in the state government's boundarydispute cell, gives a detailed account of decades-long issue.

Deepak Pawar said he has travelled from Bidar toKarwar (in Karnataka) and found that love for Marathi languageand culture binds people from the border areas to Maharashtra.

The book, comprising articles and cartoons, chroniclesthe border dispute which is pending for the last 64 years.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa recentlyslammed Thackeray's comments wherein the latter said hisgovernment is committed towards incorporating into Maharashtrathe areas of the southern state where Marathi-speaking peopleare in a majority.