Belagavi faces renewed tensions over mandatory Kannada signboards ahead of Ganeshotsav | Hubballi News

Belagavi: The city, known for its linguistic sensitivity, is once again on edge over a fresh controversy surrounding the mandatory use of Kannada on signboards. With Ganeshotsav approaching next month, the police department is grappling with growing tensions between Kannada enforcement and opposition from Marathi outfits.The situation escalated after personnel from Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) removed a Marathi-only signboard put up by a Ganeshotsav Mandal at Patil Galli near Shani Mandal on Friday. In defiance, the Mandal reinstalled the board on Saturday and called upon other Mandals to follow suit, intensifying the standoff. All this occurred on the day when the border in-charge minister, HK Patil, was in Belagavi.After BCC personnel removed the board of the Ganeshotsav Mandal on Friday evening at Patil Galli, the situation was tense. On Saturday, the office bearers of various Ganesh Mandals visited city police commissioner Bhushan Borase to detail the situation. They cautioned that it was the board welcoming the public for Ganeshotsav. Targeting such boards just because they are in the Marathi language does not send a good message and may also impact the upcoming Ganesh festival in the city, where more than 370 mandals install Ganesh idols in public places for 11 days. Responding to them, police commissioner Borase mentioned holding discussions with the BCC commissioner in this regard.This is not the first incident in the past fortnight on linguistic grounds. The controversy started simmering since the visit of Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairman, Purushottam Bilimale, to Belagavi city a fortnight ago. During the meeting with Bilimale, the leaders of Kannada outfits appreciated the govt officials who achieved 80% success in Kannada implementation on the signboards in the city according to the govt guidelines. They demanded achieving 100% success. Accordingly, the KDA head instructed the officials to put in efforts to achieve 100% success.Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) strongly opposed the statement of the KDA chief and submitted a memorandum to the district minister Satish Jarkiholi and DC Mohammad Roshan, urging them to stop targeting Marathi boards in the city. Meanwhile, at the demand of Kannada outfits, Kannada number plates were installed on the cars of BCC mayor Mangesh Pawar and deputy mayor Vani Vilas Joshi, which was also opposed by the MES members. After that, mayor Mangesh Pawar stopped using the BCC car. However, the police found a middle way and installed number plates with both English and Kannada numbers.The linguistic controversy also resonated in the BCC Council meeting held on Saturday, with the MES member demanding BCC documents in the Marathi language. Condemning the demand, Kannada outfits tried to enter the meeting hall in protest. The Kannada outfits also raised the issue with minister HK Patil during an interaction on Saturday. The series of incidents have helped the Marathi outfits to organise and fight back.