Defined: Bus Conductor’s Assault Deepens Maharashtra-Karnataka Dispute
New Delhi:
Bus companies between Karnataka and Maharashtra have come to a standstill after tensions flared up on Friday when a bus conductor was overwhelmed up in Belagavi for allegedly not responding in Marathi. In a retaliatory transfer, some unidentified people attacked and blackened a bus driver of Maharashtra State Highway Transport Company (MSRTC) in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
The assaults have led to the suspension of bus companies between the 2 states. Each Karnataka and Maharashtra transport companies have restricted their operations, citing security considerations for passengers and employees.
The Incident In Belagavi
The quick set off for the current flare-up was an altercation in Marihal, a locality in Karnataka’s Belagavi district, on Friday. A conductor of a Karnataka State Highway Transport Company (KSRTC) bus was reportedly attacked by a bunch of males for not responding to a passenger in Marathi. Based on the conductor’s police grievance, a lady had requested for a ticket in Marathi. When he mentioned that he didn’t perceive Marathi and requested her to talk in Kannada, she and her male companion allegedly assaulted him.
The scenario shortly escalated when a bigger group intercepted the bus and bodily assaulted the conductor. The police have arrested 4 people concerned within the assault. Nevertheless, the conductor was additionally booked underneath the Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after the lady filed a grievance alleging ‘indecent behaviour’.
Retaliation In Chitradurga
In what seems to be a retaliatory act, a bus driver from Maharashtra State Highway Transport Company (MSRTC) was attacked the next day in Hiriyur Taluk of Karnataka’s Chitradurga district. The sufferer, Bhaskar Jadhav, was blackened with paint by unidentified people. Police have arrested a number of people in reference to the incident.
Following this, Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik introduced a halt to MSRTC bus companies to Karnataka. He mentioned an MSRTC bus travelling from Bengaluru to Mumbai was attacked in Chitradurga round 9:10 pm on Friday by pro-Kannada activists.
On Sunday, an ultra-luxury KSRTC bus was vandalised in Maharashtra, with slogans like ‘Jai Maharashtra’, ‘Marathi’, and ‘Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’ scribbled throughout its physique in black paint.
Given the rising hostilities, Karnataka has additionally lowered its bus companies to Maharashtra. “We now have restricted the variety of buses going to Maharashtra in the interim and are taking all precautions to normalize the scenario,” a senior officer of the North West Karnataka Highway Transport Company (NWKRTC) instructed PTI.
“We’re in contact with our Maharashtra counterparts to make sure a clean decision and the resumption of bus companies,” he added.
Historic Context
Belagavi, a district with a considerable Marathi-speaking inhabitants, has been on the coronary heart of a historic border dispute between the 2 states. Maharashtra has repeatedly claimed Belagavi (previously Belgaum) and a number of other different villages alongside the border, arguing that they had been wrongly assigned to Karnataka in India’s landmark act to redraw state boundaries in 1956 and the formation of Maharashtra 4 years later.
The Karnataka authorities has firmly opposed any such claims. To bolster its place, it has constructed the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, the place the state legislature holds annual classes.
In 1966, the Mahajan Fee dominated in favour of Karnataka, rejecting Maharashtra’s claims over Belagavi. Nevertheless, Maharashtra refused to simply accept the choice and took the matter to the Supreme Court docket in 2004, the place it stays pending.
