In what may spark a stand-off with neighbouring Karnataka, the Maharashtra Government has re-released a 50-year-old documentary chronicling the more than a century-old Marathi culture which flourished in the areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people along the border with Karnataka.
The 350-minute black and white film A Case for Justice was produced by the state government five decades ago.
The development comes a day after ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Ani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Dispute: Struggle and Pledge), a book penned by Dr Deepak Pawar, was released by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in presence of top leaders including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
The documentary in digital format has been uploaded on YouTube. Thackeray has issued directions for the film to be made available for the public – a decision that was widely appreciated.
The film shows a teacher in a Karwar school teaching in English, Marathi, Konkani around 60 years ago, Marathi placard of NCC battalion, Vichari, a Marathi newspaper, annual report of Karwar Urban Co-operative Bank of 1912, a Marathi nameplate of a bridge constructed in Belgaum in 1890.
“The other issues highlighted in the film is the life in Belgaum and other border areas where Marathi used spoken as well as Marathi schools, religious rituals, songs,” according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.