Kerala - Others   

Merger issue back in the limelight

K.P. Pushparaj

Kannadiga bodies up the ante before Assembly, local body election

KASARAGOD: Although the demand for merger of the northern areas of Kasaragod district with Karnataka has been on the backburner for years, the issue is yet to fade away, with Kannada-loving people and organisations raising it now and then.

This was the message sent out by B.A. Idinabba, Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority of Karnataka, while speaking after inaugurating a Kannada Jagarani meet organised by the Karnataka Samithi at Manya recently. Mr. Ibinabba said the Mahajan Commission recommendation to merge the areas north of River Chandragiri of Kasaragod district still had much significance. Indicating the utmost commitment of the samithi in getting translated the recommendation into a reality, Mr. Ibinabba said the bifurcation was not only a long-cherished dream of Kannada-speaking people in these areas but also a geographical necessity.

The demand for implementing the commission's recommendation is likely to become an issue during the next Assembly elections, if not in the elections to the local bodies. Though in a low-profile manner, the Kasaragod Vileeneekarana Kriya Samithi, the Kannada Sahithya Parishat and a section of Horanadu Kannadigas (Kannada-speaking people living outside Karnataka) have been trying to keep the issue alive all these years. The Vileeneekarana Samithi activist and Kannada poet Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was assertive and firm while referring to one of their earlier resolutions, urging Kannadigas to unite and take the issue even to the Supreme Court to get the final word on the merger. The resentment over the inclusion of the whole of Kasaragod district in Kerala came out coinciding with the birth of Kerala on November 1, 1956. The Karnataka Samithi launched an agitation against the decision, and the former MP and once a Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongman M. Ramanna Rai was among the leaders in the forefront of the protests. The significance of the merger issue is such that the former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna had to take back his words made against the demand. The remarks made by Mr. Krishna on the Mahajan Commission report, while addressing a press conference during a visit to Kasaragod a few years ago, boomeranged on him and he had to retract his version, saying the press had "misquoted" him. Mr. Krishna clarified that his Government wanted the report to be implemented in full to settle the boundary disputes Karnataka had with Maharashtra and Kerala. The matter became an issue among Kannada-speaking and other linguistic minorities in the district during the previous Assembly elections. However, Kannada-speaking people of the district are divided on the issue.

The present Karnataka Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, had made it clear that his Government was committed to upholding the resolution passed by both the Houses of the Legislature urging the implementation of the report in full, which meant that the merger should take place.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Merger issue back in the limelight
Incessant rain affects life
Study congress chalks out plans for development
Fresh lease of life for Indian cook

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu