Activist dies by suicide ‘for cause of Maratha reservation’

For some days, Sunil Kawale, said, people should forget about festivities, education, and their jobs to sit on this hunger strike. He went on to say that his people needed to fight for this right of theirs despite being the majority

MUMBAI: A Maratha quota activist from Jalna, Sunil Kawale, 45, died by suicide on Thursday around 1am in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The police found a suicide note in his bag, in which Kawale spoke about his ‘sacrifice for the cause of Maratha reservation.’

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Further in his note, he urged people to gather in Mumbai on 24 October, Maratha reservation day, to fight for the cause and honour him by doing so.

“When we checked the bag that was found near him, it had a mobile phone and a suicide note. The note spoke about the Maratha reservation movement, appealing to people to continue the fight for the cause and to honour his sacrifice,” said an official from Kherwadi police.

Kawale was taken to Sion hospital where the on-duty doctor declared him dead on arrival.

The 4-page note called for a big hunger strike to be initiated in Mumbai on Maratha reservation day. “However, please be peaceful. It is the question of the future of the kids of poor farmers of Maharashtra who need this reservation the most,” he said in the note.

For some days, he said, people should forget about festivities, education, and their jobs to sit on this hunger strike. He went on to say that his people needed to fight for this right of theirs despite being the majority. He concluded the letter by saying, “I felt like laying my life down for the cause, so I did. Forgive me for this, but you all keep up the fight.”

Kawale, an autorickshaw driver in his village, has been actively participating in the reservation movement after Jarange-Patil’s indefinite hunger strike. He hails from Jarange-Patil’s tehsil Ambad and has less than an acre of agricultural land.

According to his family members, he chose to drive an auto rickshaw by giving up his job, so that he could participate in the reservation agitation.

Vinod Patil, one of the petitioners in the Maratha reservation case, said, “The state government now should announce the time-bound program without giving us the reasons and problems. The CM and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar should now clarify when and how they are going to give us the reservation. We have lost 48 Marathas who have either been killed or died by suicide.”

Jarange Patil, activist advocating for the maratha reservation held the government responsible for Kawale’s death. “The government should now immediately announce the reservation to avoid any further fatalities. The state should announce the ex-gratia of ₹50 lakh to the next of kin and offer government job to family members of Kawale,” he said.