Sena dubs assault on Marathis in K'taka as "Kannada terrorism"

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena today termed the "assault" on Marathi-speaking populace in Karnataka by the police there as "Kannada terrorism" and asked the Narendra Modi government to intervene.

"In Mumbai, the Karnataka Bhawan and Karnataka Sangh buildings stand tall. However, a 'Maharashtra state' board in Karnataka is not tolerated and prompts such brutal assault which even puts Hafiz Saeed to shame," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.

"All political parties blasted the Maharashtra Sadan force-feeding issue. Will they show the same zeal in condemning this injustice on Marathi speaking people of Karnataka," the editorial asked.

"In Modi, we have a strong Prime Minister and in Rajnath Singh, we have got a strong Home Minister. The Marathi speaking populace in the border area has great expectation from them. If Karnataka Police is indulging in terror against Marathi-speaking people, it is the responsibility of the Central government to curb this terrorism. We are making this appeal to the Central government because those ruling Maharashtra are incompetent," it maintained.

The Sena reaction followed Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's telephonic talk with his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah yesterday.

Chavan said he had conveyed the strong sentiments of people of Maharashtra on the brutal assault of Marathi speaking people there.

Meanwhile, Nitesh Rane, son of Industries Minister Narayan Rane said, "We won't allow Karnataka Day celebration in Mumbai to protest the assault."

Mumbai's famous 'dabbawallas' have also condemned the assault on their Marathi brethren in Karnataka's border areas.

On Friday, the Belgaum district administration demolished the board at Yallur village near Belgaum, which proclaimed the village to be in Maharashtra.

The action triggered protests in Kolhapur, where Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses were stoned.

This was followed with assault on Marathi-speaking people.