Fadnavis apologises for lathi charge on activists

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday apologised to Maratha activists for the police lathi charge on them at Jalna last Friday even as chief minister Eknath Shinde announced a panel to consider the activists’ demands of being included in the OBC category for reservation benefits. Meanwhile, the protests for reservation and action against the police officers responsible for the lathi charge continued, with the star of the show Manoj Jarange-Patil announcing that he would stop drinking water from Tuesday if the government did not immediately issue an order for caste certificates.

Also read: Who is Manoj Jarange-Patil, at the centre of the Maratha agitation?

On Monday, chief minister Eknath Shinde convened a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha reservation issue, which was attended by Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, chairman of the sub-committee on Maratha reservation Chandrakant Patil and others. Following the meeting, Fadnavis, in an apparent bid to defuse the tension, tendered an apology for the police action.

“No one from Mumbai ordered the lathi charge—the decision was taken at the local level. But it was still unfortunate so as home minister I apologise for it,” said the deputy CM in a press conference. He however blamed the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for failing to do anything when the Supreme Court quashed the existing reservation in 2021.

Shinde declared that a committee of additional chief secretaries would look into the demand of issuing Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community. “The committee will examine old records in Marathwada and will submit its report in a month,” he said. Kunbi is a sub-caste of Marathas, which is in the list of castes eligible for reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.

In the meeting, additional chief secretary Rajgopal Deora, who will head the CM-appointed committee, said that data regarding revenue and educational records from five districts of Marathwada had already been collected, and officials had sought old records from the Nizam’s office at Hyderabad. All Marathas in central Maharashtra were considered Kunbis during the rule of the Nizam before Marathwada was included in Maharashtra.

CM Shinde also assured strict action against police officers in the lathi charge case. “We have transferred the superintendent of police and suspended the sub-divisional officer,” he said. “Sanjay Saxena, the additional director-general of police, law and order, has been sent to Jalna for an inquiry. Once he submits the report, we will take action.”

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar dared the opposition to prove the allegations that the order for the lathi charge was given from Mumbai. “If the opposition can prove this, we will quit politics, and if they fail to do so, they should quit,” he said. Opposition leaders, including Ajit’s uncle Sharad Pawar, had declared that the lathi charge began after the local police officer got a call from his superiors in Mumbai.

Also read: Maha acts against cops after Maratha quota stir violence

Meanwhile, protests continued in various parts of the state. In Marathwada, a bandh was observed in Aurangabad and Hingoli districts, where shops and offices remained closed. In western Maharashtra, a bandh was observed in Satara district, and shops, schools and offices remained closed during the day. In Sangli district, Maratha organisations took out a protest march in the Palus and Bhilawadi areas. However, there were no reports of any violence.

State minister Girish Mahajan, who went to Jalna to hold talks with Jarange-Patil, said the government was seeking a month’s time from the activists. “We can then take a proper decision which will stand up in court,” he said. Jarange-Patil, however, was cynical about Shinde’s announcement about the one-month deadline for the ACS committee. “All this is part of routine government procedure,” he said. “I will continue my hunger strike till the government issues an order to give Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community.”