Sansad TV Perspective: Inter-State Border Dispute

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic: Inter-State Border Dispute

Anchor: Vishal Dahiya

Guests:

1. Prof. Umesh Ashok Kadam, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
2. Shekhar Iyer, Senior Journalist
3. PK Malhotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, GoI

Context: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 14, 2022, held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka on the border dispute between the two States.

Highlights of the Discussion: 

• Introduction
• Karnataka-Maharastra Border Dispute
• Background
• Genesis of Inter-State Border Disputes in India
• Way Forward

Introduction: 

• Recently, tensions have escalated between Maharashtra and Karnataka governments over territorial claims on certain villages. 
• Leaders of both States vehemently raised their voices to secure the contentious areas. 
• The Union Home Minister held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka on the border dispute between the two States. 
• Both sides agreed that neither State will press their claims further till the judgement of the Supreme Court on this matter and a panel of three ministers from each state will meet and discuss this issue in detail.

Karnataka-Maharashtra Border Dispute:

• The Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute has continued ever since the two states came into existence.
• Maharashtra has staked claim to over 7,000 sq km area along its border with Karnataka. 
• It comprises 865 villages in the districts of Belagavi (Belgaum), Uttara Kannada, Bidar, and Gulbarga, and the towns of Belagavi, Karwar, and Nippani. 
• All these areas are predominantly Marathi-speaking, and Maharashtra wants them to be merged with the state.
• The Karnataka government has claimed that villages in Jat taluk of Sangli, Maharashtra were a part of the State. 
• The panchayats in Jat taluk had passed a resolution in the past to merge with Karnataka when there was a severe drought situation and acute drinking water crisis. 
• Karnataka has also demanded that the Kannada-speaking areas of Maharashtra like Solapur and Akkalkot should join Karnataka.

Image Source: Times of India

Background: 

• In the 1881 census, Belgaum had 864,014 people of which 556,397 were Kannada-speaking (64.39%), while 225,008 were Marathi-speaking (26.04%).
• The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, and Uttara Kannada. 
• In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district, having a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state. 
• However, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 made Belgaum and 10 talukas of Bombay State a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973). 
• While demarcating borders, the Reorganisation of States Commission included talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50% in the State of Mysore. 
• But the opponents of the decision have maintained that in 1956, Marathi speakers outnumbered Kannada speakers in those areas.
• The Mahajan Commission was set up by the Government of India in October 1966 to look into the border dispute. 
• In its report submitted in August 1967, the Commission, led by former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, recommended that 264 villages should be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages should remain with Karnataka. 
• Maharashtra rejected the report, calling it biased and illogical. 
• Despite demands from Karnataka, the Centre never implemented the report. 
• In 2004, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court for settlement of the border dispute under Article 131(b) of the Constitution. The case is pending in the apex court.

Genesis of Inter-State Border Disputes:

• Reorganisation of states: Several inter-state border disputes have their roots in the linguistic reorganisation of states in the 1950s. As a result, there is a border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and so on.
  • This policy strengthened regionalism and regionalism sometimes compromises national interest for narrow interest.
  • There have been many demands for separate linguistic states for minority languages too like Nagalim, Bodoland, etc.
• Use of British Era Maps to demarcate boundaries: Many of the state boundary demarcations were based on district boundaries created by the British and not village boundaries. They seldom acknowledge the socio-cultural liminality of borders.
• Ethnicity: States Reorganisation Commission recommended the creation of just one state, Assam, which would administer what are now Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
• So, Assam is involved in all the disputes in the region: With Nagaland since 1965, Mizoram since 1972, Meghalaya since 1974 and Arunachal Pradesh since 1992.

Read more on Boundary Disputes in North East India in CNA dated Nov 25, 2022.

Way Forward:

• Interstate border disputes can be resolved by the states themselves or by the Centre through dialogue and political settlements.
• A give-and-take approach by both states is needed to resolve minor border disputes. 
• Committee formed to resolve the issue must include the locals i.e., sons and daughters of the land. The involvement of local stakeholders is key to successful resolutions that include various civil service organisations, traditional heads, landowners, student unions and village headmen.
• Settlement of border disputes at times involves the rehabilitation of the people across the border. The resettlement and rehabilitation policy must be robust and people-friendly. 
• Disputes can also be settled by judicial interventions.

Read all the previous Sansad TV Perspective articles in the link.

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