Five-member com of writers to monitor border issue

Sandesh Prabhudesai
1 May 2000  

They not only debated over the over-prolonged six-decade old border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra but even chalked out preliminary action plan to pressurise the central government as well as Maharashtra government to get the Marathi speaking areas of Karnataka merged into Maharashtra.

With the issue of around 25 lakh Marathis in Karnataka taking centre stage at the 73rd All India Marathi Literary Conference held in Belgaum, the writers, intellectuals, activists and even journalists would now begin its action with a dharna to be staged in Mumbai at the time of monsoon Assembly session.

While concluding the three-day national meet of Marathi writers, a committee has also been appointed of prominent writers and intellectuals, headed by Dr Y D Fadke, president of the 73rd literary meet, to pursue the issue with concerned authorities. The literary body has always been an inspiration for the Samyukta Maharashtra (combined Maharashtra) movement since 1940.

Its members are Justice Narendra Chapalgaonkar, president of Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal Vasundhara Pendse-Naik and local MLAs Narsingrao Patil and Rajabhau Mane. The committee would submit memorandums to the concerned authorities while also bringing out booklets on history and agenda of the historic border dispute.

While delivering his concluding remarks, Dr Fadke has also appealed to the Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka to register their mother tongue as Marathi at the time of ongoing census. He has also assured to pursue the matter with the five-member committee formed by the state government long ago.

Besides chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, other members of this committee are former chief ministers Sharad Pawar and Manohar Joshi, former MP Madhu Dandvate and N D Patil. The committee has remained dormant since its inception while Pawar has recently made a statement that the border dispute has no more remained an issue.

Dr Fadke had also urged the Maharashtra government in his presidential address earlier to approach the Supreme Court to decide upon the issue of merging Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka – including Belgaum, Karwar and Nipani – into Maharashtra.

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