Kannada outfits oppose Pawar's participation in govt programme
Belagavi
have strongly objected NCP chief
Sharad Pawar
being invited for the centenary celebration of a Marathi school in Yallur, Belagavi taluk. Pawar, who was previously, allegedly responsible for Kannada-Marathi conflict, was invited to a govt event like the centenary of a Marathi school, which angered
Kannada organisations
.
Ashok Chandaragi, president of the Belagavi Zilla Kannada Sanghatanegala Kriya Samiti and member of Karnataka Border Area Development Authority, submitted a petition to the Karnataka govt through the DC on Saturday, objecting the invitation being sent to Sharad Pawar in a govt programme of Karnataka. They also submitted a petition seeking clarification from the education department in this regard.
In the petition, Chandaragi said that Maharashtra leader Sharad Pawar had started 'Seema Ladhai' from Belagavi on June 1, 1986, which led to huge violence. Pawar participated in the centenary celebrations of Govt Marathi Model School in Yellur on Saturday. Chandaragi questioned who had invited Pawar to a event at a govt school in Karnataka, and sought clarification on senior govt officials noticing this anti-Karnataka activity.
When anyone in Karnataka hears the word Yallur, they immediately think of it as a centre of pro-Maharashtra activities. In 1986, a plaque saying 'Yellur, Maharashtra State' was installed in the village. Lot of legal battles were fought to get the plaque removed, he said and added that there are some people in Yallur village who wish to rekindle the language dispute.
"Pawar is a senior leader of the co-operative movement, who visited the many of its events in Belagavi. We have no objection to this. We hope that such national leaders should not help pro-Maharashtra forces in Belagavi, and strongly object to Pawar's invitation to an official programme at the Yallur govt school."
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