Karnataka - Belgaum   

MES will continue its fight: N.D. Patil

Belgaum: Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) will continue its struggle till it gets “justice” on the boundary dispute, senior MES leader from Maharashtra N.D. Patil has said.

He was addressing a gathering after paying homage to 11 martyrs who were killed in police firing on January 17, 1956 at Hutatma Chowk here on Saturday.

Mr. Patil, who was arrested for violating prohibitory orders in the city and released on Friday evening, said the MES and Marathi-speaking people in border areas had been observing January 17 as Martyrs’ Day since 1956 to pay homage to those killed in police firing.

The MES had been fighting for transfer of areas dominated by Marathi-speaking community to Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in this regard. However, the MES would carry forward the struggle of Marathi-speaking people here, he said.

The Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said that an all-party meeting in Maharashtra would be convened soon to workout a strategy to pressure the Centre to resolve the boundary dispute with Karnataka at the earliest. Till then, Belgaum should be a “Union Territory”.

He protested against the police action on MES leaders and workers who wanted to protest in a democratic manner. Bharat Kumar Raut, MP from Maharashtra, and other MES leaders from Belgaum spoke.

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