Belgaum: Soon after the winter session of the state legislature commenced at Suvarna Soudha on Monday, violence broke out in Belgaum city when several Kannada activists were involved in clashes with Marathi activists during an agitation launched at Chennamma Circle.
After attacking a group of Marathi activists who were heading for a Marathi Melava, a parallel session organised by MES in Belgaum, Kannada activists attacked the office of MES MLA Sambhaji Patil and broke the Marathi boards at the office.
A large group of Kannada activists protesting against the MES Melava at ChennaÂmma Circle, halted a Tempo which was on its way to the Melava. The vehicle was stoned and Marathi activists attacked.
As the police arrested Kannada workers involved in stone-throwing, another group rushed to the office of Sambhaji Patil and stoned it. The police arrested about 30 Kannada activists for indulging in violence. After the attack on his office, Sambhaji Patil said, “It is unfortunate that the Kannada activists are committing atrocities on Marathi people.”
Earlier, pandemonium broke out at the Legislative Assembly with Sambhaji Patil speaking in Marathi even as Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa and MLAs stopped him from raising his voice.
The MLAs wanted legislators in the Assembly session to speak only in Kannada and said that they were free to speak in their mother tongue in their homes and not at the Legislature session. When the MLAs urged the Speaker to stop Sambhaji from speaking in Marathi, the latter started speaking in Hindi.
He said the Speaker should allow him to speak in Hindi as it is a national language. Later, the Speaker asked him to stop asking questions in the Assembly as he had not submitted his questions
officially.
