Amid growing tensions between pro-Kannada and Maharashtra groups in Belagavi, Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, KS Eshwarappa, said on the floor of the House on Monday, December 20, that the miscreants who vandalised the statue of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna and burnt the Kannada flag must be shot. “The act of vandalising the statue of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna and burning the Kannada flag is highly condemnable and the miscreants should be tracked and shot dead,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy demanded that strict action must be taken against the miscreants who indulged in the desecration of the statue and burning of the Kannada flag. The organisations which were involved in the acts must be banned, he said, terming the incident as a cowardly act. “Those who are attempting to bring disharmony must not be spared,” he added.
Tension prevailed in Belagavi after a statue of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna was defaced in the city, days after a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji was vandalised in Bengaluru and the Kannada flag was burnt in Kolhapur in Maharashtra. The incidents have reignited the dispute over the border district of Belagavi, which Maharashtra claims should belong to it.
On Monday, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed a unanimous resolution condemning the acts of vandalism and burning the Kannada flag, and said that such acts would be considered as seditious. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who moved the resolution, said that strict action would be taken against the miscreants, and that they would be booked under the Goondas Act.
"It is a clear stand of the government that Mahajan report is final on the border issue, still some individuals and organisations are repeatedly causing disturbance to peace and it is condemnable. This House unanimously condemns such acts and decides to punish the miscreants involved in it," CM Bommai said.
Read about the history of the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute here: Belagavi dispute explained: Why Karnataka and Maharashtra are fighting over one district