Maratha quota march en route to Mumbai ahead of Jarange-Patil’s hunger strike
Organisers claimed over a million people will be part of the march when it enters Mumbai even as the state government was trying to avoid this and the disruptions it was expected to cause
A march to press for reservation for the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category was on Thursday en route to Mumbai, where activist Manoj Jarange-Patil was scheduled to begin another indefinite hunger strike on Friday.
Tens of thousands of people were likely to join Jarange-Patil for the protest, which has been described as the biggest in Maharashtra’s history. Organisers have asked community members to join the march at Vashi before it enters the country’s financial capital. They claimed over a million people will be part of the march when it enters Mumbai even as the state government was trying to avoid this and the disruptions it was expected to cause.
Aurangabad’s divisional commissioner Madhukar Raje Ardad met Jarange-Patil in Lonavala to brief him about the action taken so far to meet his demand. Ardad sought to convince Jarange-Patil against taking the protest to Mumbai.
A defiant Jarange-Patil has vowed to continue leading the march demanding the inclusion of all Marathas under the OBC category by giving them Kunbi sub-caste certificates. Kunbis have a quota in jobs and educational institutes under the OBC category.
Jarange-Patil has rejected the government’s appeals to stop the march and wait until February when it plans a special session for the passage of a law for Maratha reservation.
On Tuesday, chief minister Eknath Shinde said the government was “positive” towards Jarange-Patil’s demands. “We will ensure the reservation is legally viable. I appeal to Jarange-Patil to stop the agitation,” said Shinde on Wednesday.
Jarange-Patil earlier resumed his hunger strike in October after his 40-day deadline to the Maharashtra government for the reservation to all Marathas passed even as the state government requested the activist to call off the agitation.
The government has maintained it needs time for the reservation, which stands legal scrutiny, while promising to accede to Jarange-Patil’s demand. Jarange-Patil has insisted on continuing his agitation until the quota was announced.
Jarange-Patil, who has questioned the government for going back on its word, ended his previous 17-day hunger strike on September 14 in the presence of Shinde after an assurance that the government would take a call on the matter in 30 days.
The state government granted 16% reservation to the community in 2018 after protests, acceding to the decades-old Maratha demand. The Bombay high court slashed the quota to 13% in jobs and 12% in education before the Supreme Court in 2021 quashed the move.
The police lathi charge in Jalna at the site of Patil’s hunger on September 1 fuelled the agitation for the OBC status of Marathas. Shinde later announced that Marathas from central Maharashtra could get quota under the OBC category if they produce certificates classifying them as Kunbi.
The state government in September appointed retired judge Sandeep Shinde-led committee to explore modalities of the reservation. The Maratha groups insisted they wanted reservations without any stipulation amid concerns among Kunbi and other OBC groups.
