BORDER DISPUTES

1.Why in news?

The Maharashtra Karnataka border dispute is in the news again after NCP leader Ajit Pawar raised the issue on Wednesday, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said his government was “committed to acquiring” Marathi-speaking villages along the border.

The border dispute between the two states is decades-old, having its origins in the states’ reorganisation in the 1950s. 

2.Key takeaways

2.1.Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute

• Both Maharashtra and Karnataka were formed in 1960. But since its inception, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages along the border, including Carvar, Nippani and Belgavi ( earlier Belgaum), should be merged with it
• On its part, Karnataka has asserted rights over 260 Kannada-speaking villages along the Maharashtra border.
• 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 as Karnataka in 1973)
• While demarcating borders, the Reorganisation of States Commission included talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50 per cent in 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

2.2.Assam- Meghalaya border dispute

•  Assam and Meghalaya have a longstanding dispute in 12 stretches of their 884-km shared border.
• The two states signed a March pact to resolve the dispute in six out of 12 areas. In August, they decided to form regional committees. The second round of discussions for the remaining six phases was to commence by the end of this month.
• The Assam-Meghalaya pact was seen as a major achievement, as Assam’s border disputes with other states in the Northeast have remained unresolved despite multiple rounds of talks
• During the British rule, undivided Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
• Meghalaya was carved out in 1972, its boundaries demarcated as per the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969, but has held a different interpretation of the border since
• In 2011, the Meghalaya government had identified 12 areas of difference with Assam, spread over approximately 2,700 sq km
• Both state governments identified six out of 12 disputed areas for resolution in the first phase: three areas contested between West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya and Kamrup in Assam, two between RiBhoi in Meghalaya and Kamrup-Metro, and one between East Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya and Cachar in Assam
• A final set of recommendations were made jointly: out of 36.79 sq km of disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam would get full control of 18.46 sq km and Meghalaya of 18.33 sq km

 

 

For Mains: 1. Progress in settling border disputes, removal of AFSPA herald positive changes in the region. Comment.