“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”

The dispute can be traced to 1946 when the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Belagavi unanimously demanded inclusion of several Marathi-speaking areas in the then Bombay state. Within two year, in 1948, then Belgaum municipality passed a resolution demanding that as the district had a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, it be incorporated into the proposed Bombay (later Maharashtra) state. This triggered a wave of protests along the border between the two states since both sides had bilingual populations.

The State Reorganization Act was passed by Parliament in 1956. The Act was based on the findings of the Justice Fazal Ali Commission, which was appointed in 1953 and had submitted its report two years later. Under the Act’s provisions, on 1 November 1956, the state of Mysore – later rechristened Karnataka – was formed. Immediately, opposition to the inclusion of various areas was expressed by both sides and differences between the two states came to the fore.

Under the SR Act, Belgaum and 10 talukas of then Bombay state were transferred to Mysore state by demarcating borders. The Commission had inferred that the talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50 percent should be merged in Mysore state. However, opponents of the inclusion of certain areas in Mysore maintained that at that time, Marathi-speaking population outnumbered the Kannada-speaking people in those areas.

Since then, both states have refused to budge from their stand. Otherwise speaking in many voices on most issues, political parties in Maharashtra have shown total unanimity on the merger of the dispute border areas with the state. The issue has figured in every session of the state legislature and in every election promise by every party. Similarly, over the last six decades, every address by the Governor to every joint session of the Maharashtra legislature has reiterated this stand on the border dispute.

Maharashtra has argued that over 7000 sq km area along its border with Karnataka in fact belongs to it according to lingual majority formulas. This claim covers 814 villages in the districts of Belagavi (Belgaum), Uttara Kannada, Bidar, and Gulbarga as well major towns of Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani. All these areas are predominantly Marathi-speaking. Maharashtra has maintained, and demands that they be merged with the state.

On the other hand, Karnataka chief minister S.R.Bommai has vowed that his state will not give up an inch of land. Identical statements are heard from Maharashtra. Previous Karnataka chief minister B.S.Yediyurappa had stated that the Mahajan Commission had “long ago settled the dispute.” Maharashtra has opposed this contention

The Commission was set up by the Centre in response to protests from Marathi-speaking sections and due to genuine demands from Maharashtra. The Commission was headed by retired SC justice Meharchand Mahajan. It was formed on 25 October 1966. At the time, S Nijalingappa was the Karnataka CM while V.P. Naik was his Maharashtra counterpart. The Commission’s report was expected to put an end to the dispute. The commission submitted its report in August 1967 and its publication sparked off widespread protests, which continue till today. The Commission had recommended that 264 villages should be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages should remain with Karnataka. Despite demands from Karnataka, the Centre has so far not implemented the recommendations.

Unhappy with the Commission’s methodology, Maharashtra approached the supreme court in 2004, challenging the State Reorganization Act. It demanded 865 villages and towns from five Karnataka districts — Belagavi, Karwar, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bidar – to be merged with the state. Karnataka has rejected the demand. Now, almost two decades after the petition, it is expected to be heard by the supreme court soon.

In its response, Karnataka has taken recourse to Article 3 of the constitution to argue that the SC has no jurisdiction to decide borders of states as only Parliament has the power to do so. On the other hand, Maharashtra has invoked Article 131 which says that the SC does have jurisdiction in the cases related to disputes between the Union government and states. The SC will thus hear arguments about the maintainability of the Maharashtra petition.

Rather than making efforts to calm the atmosphere, Karnataka CM Bommai raked up the dispute out of the blue a week ago by claiming that several villages in Sangli district of Maharashtra had demanded their inclusion in his state since they were deprived of basic amenities like water, health and education. Despite an uproar in Maharashtra, Bommai aggravated the situation by demanding inclusion of more areas, including Solapur, into Karnataka. The atmosphere was reaching a flashpoint when Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde exercised restraint and cancelled a proposed visit by two ministers – Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraje Desai – to Belagavi on 6 December. This gesture by Shinde is lauded all over.

The dispute remained unresolved when both states had Congress governments for decades. Now that the BJP in power in the two states, wiser counsel are expected to prevail. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have been petitioned by several political leaders to intercede. However, as the matter is before the SC, they are not likely to act now. But the tension in the border area is not desirable for either side. Considering the national interest, some satisfactory solution needs to be worked out.