Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) leaders have alleged that Karnataka police unleashed terror on Marathi-speaking people living in Belgaum for participating in the “Black Day” protest rally on Karnataka Rajyotsava Day on November 1.
The protest rally saw several MES leaders including MES-backed local MLA Sambhaji Patil, mayor Sarita Patil, deputy mayor Sanjay Patil and a few corporators of Belagavi City Corporation wearing black clothes. Ratnaprasad Pawar, one of the MES activists, rode a horse with a gun in his hands as part of the protest rally.
Taking serious note of MES observing “Black Day”, Belgaum police has started investigating into the matter. However, MES has alleged that their activists are being beaten and tortured by police during investigation.
MLA Sambhaji Patil said, “The atrocities committed by Karnataka police are so brutal that we are left wondering whether we are living in a democratic country. Youths are being thrashed in such a way that we have asked them to flee their villages to escape cruelty.”
According to MES, five people were arrested by police under charges of rioting and unlawful assembly. Ratnaprasad Pawar was booked under the Arms Act, remanded to judicial custody and later sent to Hidalga jail. Additionally, 40 people were detained for participating in the “Black Day” protests; said Mr Patil.
The MES observes Black Day on November 1, which is celebrated across Karnataka as Kannada Rajyotsava Day or the day on which the state was unified in 1956. The MES wants 814 villages, where the Marathi-speaking population is dominant, to be integrated with Maharashtra.
In its report 50 years ago, the Centre-appointed Mahajan Commission had recommended that these villages remain in Karnataka. But Maharashtra approached the SC about 10 years ago and the matter is pending.
