Bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra have been suspended following violent incidents triggered by a confrontation over language use. A Karnataka bus conductor was assaulted in Belagavi for not responding in Marathi, leading to retaliation against a Maharashtra bus driver in Chitradurga. This sparked statewide safety concerns, prompting both transport corporations to limit operations. The altercations tie into a longstanding border dispute over Belagavi, where Maharashtra claims territory previously assigned to Karnataka. Past rulings have favored Karnataka, but tensions persist, complicating relations and bus services between the two states amid rising hostilities.
New Delhi:
Bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra have come to a halt following escalating tensions on Friday, when a bus conductor was assaulted in Belagavi for supposedly not answering in Marathi. In response, some unidentified individuals attacked and smeared a bus driver from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
The violence has resulted in the suspension of bus services between the two states. Both Karnataka and Maharashtra transport corporations have limited their operations, citing safety concerns for passengers and crew.
The Incident In Belagavi
The recent escalation was triggered by an incident in Marihal, a locality in Karnataka’s Belagavi district, on Friday. A conductor of a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus was allegedly attacked by a group of men for failing to respond to a passenger in Marathi. According to the conductor’s police report, a girl requested a ticket in Marathi. When he replied that he did not understand Marathi and asked her to speak in Kannada, she and her male companion reportedly assaulted him.
The situation intensified when a larger group surrounded the bus and physically attacked the conductor. Police have detained four individuals connected to the assault. However, the conductor himself has also been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after the girl filed a complaint alleging ‘indecent behaviour’.
Retaliation In Chitradurga
Subsequently, Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik declared a cessation of MSRTC bus services to Karnataka. He mentioned that an MSRTC bus traveling from Bengaluru to Mumbai was attacked in Chitradurga by pro-Kannada activists around 9:10 PM on Friday.
On Sunday, an ultra-luxury KSRTC bus was vandalized in Maharashtra, with slogans such as ‘Jai Maharashtra’, ‘Marathi’, and ‘Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’ scrawled across its exterior in black paint.
In light of the escalating tensions, Karnataka has also reduced its bus services to Maharashtra. “We have limited the number of buses operating to Maharashtra for now and are taking all necessary precautions to restore normalcy,” a senior officer from the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) told PTI.
“We are coordinating with our counterparts in Maharashtra to ensure a smooth resolution and the resumption of bus services,” he added.
Historic Context
Belagavi, which has a significant Marathi-speaking population, has long been the center of a historic border dispute between the two states. Maharashtra has consistently asserted that Belagavi (formerly known as Belgaum) along with several other border villages, were wrongly allocated to Karnataka during India’s historic state boundary reorganization in 1956 and the subsequent formation of Maharashtra four years later.
The Karnataka government has staunchly opposed these claims. To underscore its stance, it has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, where the state assembly convenes annually.
In 1966, the Mahajan Commission ruled in favor of Karnataka, dismissing Maharashtra’s claims over Belagavi. However, Maharashtra did not accept the ruling and appealed to the Supreme Court in 2004, where the case still awaits resolution.