Protesters from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike vandalized a truck in Belagavi.
Belagavi (Karnataka):
Trucks with Maharashtra number plates were stopped and blackened and at least one of them was pelted with stones following a protest by an organization called Karnataka Rakshana Vedike in Belagavi.
Belagavi is at the center of this as Maharashtra has been claiming that the Marathi-majority region was wrongfully given to Kannada-majority Karnataka in the language-based reorganization of states in the 1960s.
Karnataka has recently resumed its claim on some villages in Maharashtra, triggering a fresh round of acrimony even as the BJP is in power in both the states.
Windshields of at least one truck were damaged in protests today as a large number of protesters blocked traffic carrying traditional Kannada/Karnataka flags. Police were deployed to calm the situation, but the protesters josled with the police and lay down on the road.
This came hours after another major sign of escalation: two Maharashtra ministers, Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai, postponed their scheduled visits to Belagavi. On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said that the visit could pose a law and order challenge. Maharashtra has appointed Mr. Patil and Mr. Desai as coordination ministers as the dispute is again in the Supreme Court.
Another case of border-line violence was reported in Belagavi about a week ago, at a college festival, when a student waving a Kannada flag was attacked by some Marathi students. Teachers and other staff of the host college at Tilakwadi in Belagavi intervened to stop the fight and the police later launched an investigation.