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The second coming of the Maharashatra-Karanataka border dispute

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Belgaum

The 73rd All India Marathi Literary Conference, which concluded in Belgaum, Karnataka on Sunday, will probably be remembered as much for its literary debates as for its singular achievement of rekindling the six-decade-old Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute.

Dr Y D Phadke, who presided over the meet this year, has already been hailed by Shiv Sena as a hero for bringing up the subject. And that he did this in enemy territory is already being considered as a small victory by the party.

Phadke devoted a large part of his concluding address on Sunday to the border dispute. He demanded that both governments take cognisance of the popular sentiment and resolve the issue as soon as possible.

He also asked all Marathi-speaking residents of Belgaum, Karwar and Nipani to register their mother tongue as Marathi at the time of census.

Shiv Sena says it's the second coming for the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement. The demand for a maha-Maharashtra was first raised in 1939 at one such literary sammelan. This followed the formation of the Samyukta Maharashtra Parishad in 1946 to bring all Marathi-speaking areas under one state administration.

However, the hysterics of the Shiv Sena and the historical trivia not withstanding, the Nationalist Congress Party, which is part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, is convinced that the dispute belongs to the pages of history.

The NCP president and former chief minister Sharad Pawar believes the dispute has lost it relevance. Sena has condemned this as Pawar's "defeatist" attitude.

The Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal, has now taken upon itself to keep the spotlight focused firmly on the issue. A committee of prominent writers and intellectuals, headed by Dr Phadke, has been constituted to pursue the matter with the two governments.

Dr Phadke has urged the Maharashtra government to approach the Supreme Court. A proposal to this effect was actually made by a three-member legal experts committee headed by Justice (retd) Y V Chandrachud in 1997 in a report submitted to the then ruling Shiv Sena - Bharatiya Janata Party coalition..

However, indications that the issue may no longer hold the kind of emotional appeal it probably did 20 years ago have begun emerging.

The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, after winning the Belgaum assembly seat nine times in a row, lost it in the last election. Also, the MES itself is a deeply divided organisation today.

Phadke by using the influence of the sahitya sammelan probably wants to infuse a new life into MES. He certainly has pumped some blood into a controversy that had long lied dormant. If this infusion will rejuvenate the ekikaran samiti too, remains to be seen.

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