White paper sought on demand for separate state

Former minister Umesh Katti who has demanded a separate state of north Karnataka has found a supporter in the form of president of Dharwad High Court Advocates Association B D Hiremath who is also the convener of Uttar Karnataka Vikas Vedike.

Speaking to reporters in Dharwad on Wednesday, he stated that in Karnataka, the people belonging to north Karnataka region were being treated as second class citizens and hence there was nothing wrong in demanding a separate state.

Daring chief minister Siddaramaiah to implement his reported threat of initiating legal action against anyone demanding separate state, Hiremath challenged the chief minister to issue a white paper on the funds allotted to north Karnataka region for development activities in the last 20 years.

“The government is discriminating against north Karnataka as far as development works are concerned,” he added.

And it is nothing but disrespecting the constitution,” he charged. After a long struggle, the government finally constructed Suvarna Vidhana Soudha at Belgaum by spending nothing less than Rs 400 crore. However, just by constructing buildings, the objective is not met.

Assembly sessions are being held once in a year more as a ritual and the resolutions passed here are not being implemented. At least once in a month, the secretaries of all government departments should come here and dispose off the pending files. The ministers should also hear grievances of the people once in a week and try to solve them, Hiremath demanded.

He said, if the government continues to mete out step motherly treatment to this region, a massive protest would be launched and Vidhana Soudha would be picketed, he cautioned.

Speaking on the occasion, Vedike’s Belgaum unit convener Ashok Pujari said, it has been decided to launch a struggle demanding development of north Karnataka or give a statehood.

Even after five decades of unification of Karnataka, the people of north Karnataka are suppressed and have to stage protest to get their rights fulfilled, he complained.

He said, the chief minister has to take up this issue seriously, failing which the demand for separate statehood would get louder in the coming days, he added.