Belagavi (Karnataka): Amidst the escalation of Maharashtra-Karnataka border row, a Belagavi court has summoned Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut in a hate speech case.
The court summoned him on December 1.
Raut had made the controversial speech on March 30, 2018 by saying that the Shiv Sena had the courage to damage 100 Karnataka buses if people of Karnataka damaged one.
He also advocated mobocracy over democracy and said that his party would stand with Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) on border issues. “In this country, the Kashmir, Cauvery and the Belgaum, Karwar and the border issues have remained unresolved,” he said.
“Despite contesting elections and winning through democratic means, if democracy is throttled, the Shiv Sena supremo stated that there is no other option than mobocracy. In Karnataka, Shiv Sena will fight the Assembly election, but in the border areas, we will stand by MES,” he said.
Reacting to the summons, Raut told reporters on Monday that he would be attacked and arrested and thrown into prison.
“The court has asked me to remain present in the court on a 2018 speech. This means that I should go to court and there will be an attack on me. This is my information. And I will be arrested there and thrown into prison there,” he said.
The present controversy exploded after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the state was seriously considering the resolutions passed by some villages in Jat taluka of Maharashtra to merge with Karnataka.
Countering the statement, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said there was no question of ceding those villages to Karnataka. In response, Bommai called it a “provocative” remark and staked claim to Kannada-speaking regions of Maharashtra.
However, this is a long-pending issue between Karnataka and Maharashtra over the inclusion and exclusion of Marathi and Kannada-speaking areas based on Mahajan Commission report.
