Demand for merger of Karnataka taluks with Goa decried by lawmakers

The demand for merger of three border taluks of Karnataka with neighbouring Goa figured in the Karnataka legislature yesterday with the angry lawmakers urging the Government to banish the activists of two Konkani organizations that had moved the Supreme Court in the regard.

The matter was raised in the Legislative Council by BJP MLC Mukhyamantri Chandru, who sought to draw the Government’s attention to the efforts being made by the activists of the Konkani organizations to secure the merger of Karwar, Joida and Haliyal in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka with Goa for the creation of “Greater Goa”.

Goa Konkani Rajya Samithi and Samyuktha Gomantak Manch, the two Karwar-based pro-Konkani organizations, have already ruffled the feathers of Kannada organizations by moving the Apex court seeking the merger of the three border taluks with Goa on the grounds that a majority of the people in the region speaks Konkani, the official language of Goa.

As if to rub salt in the wounds of people of Karnataka, Mukhyamantri Chandru said the two organizations have now begun sending teams of activists to different parts of the three taluks to collect signatures in favour of their campaign. “The activists are also videographing roads and other places in these areas to claim that they have been neglected by Karnataka Government in a bid to justify their demand for merger with Goa”, he said.

With the petitions filed by the Konkani-based organizations expected to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court, Mukhyamantri Chandru urged the Government to take proper measures to ensure that the Apex court dismisses the petition.

Home Minister M P Prakash sought to assure the members of the Karnataka Legislative Council that the Government would initiate necessary measures prevent the organizations from misleading the people in the region. Similiarly, all legal steps will also be taken to fight the matter in the Supreme Court, he said.