News:Recently,the bus services between Kolhapur and Belgaum were suspended after the decades-old border dispute related to Belgaum between Maharashtra and Karnataka flared up again.
Facts:
About the Belgaum dispute:
- The dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum and other border areas is a longstanding issue between the two states.
- The erstwhile Bombay Presidency had included the present-day Karnataka districts of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwar and Uttara-Kannada (previously North Kanara).
- 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 which divided states on linguistic and administrative lines made Belgaum a part of the then Mysore State(which was renamed Karnataka in 1973).
Mahajan Commission:
- The Maharashtra government contested the inclusion of Belgaum in Karnataka and lodged a protest with the Central Government in September 1957.
- This led to the formation of the Mahajan Commission under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan in October 1966.
- The commission recommended that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra and that Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka.
- However, Maharashtra rejected the report and continues to claim over 865 villages along the border as well as Belgaum city which are currently part of Karnataka.
