Many hurdles in the way of Maratha-Kunbi integration

The intermediate castes till very recently dominated the political space in the country. This largely was possible as they controlled large tracts of land, and in an agrarian society this played an important role in defining the social structure as well

Mumbai: The Marathas in Maharashtra have intensified their demand for reservation in public employment and educational institutions owing to their deteriorating economic status in the recent times. Fragmentation of land, changing land use pattern and diminishing productivity of land owing to unreliable monsoons are some of the reasons for the affected well-being of the community in general.

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The intermediate castes till very recently dominated the political space in the country. This largely was possible as they controlled large tracts of land, and in an agrarian society this played an important role in defining the social structure as well.

After the lathicharge on the Maratha morcha in Jalna, it became important for the government to commit some decision on the reservation to the Marathas. As the issue occurred in Marathwada, the government hurriedly announced that all those Marathas with the land records during the Nizam’s times would be given the Kunbi status and could be accorded Other Backward Class (OBC) status, through which the community could avail reservation in public employment and government run educational institutions. The recalibration of Maratha caste to Kunbi based on the land records and the erstwhile practice of offering reservations to Kunbi community in the Nizam state to be continued by the state government would be an oversimplified version of granting reservation to the Maratha, an intermediate caste. It is important to understand if this type of arrangement would stand the legal test.

The Supreme Court in its judgement on May 5, 2021, struck down the demand for reservation citing whether there were any exceptions to the 50% limit of reservations in the case of Marathas. Further, the nine-member bench examined the list of exceptions and opined on the two most important exceptions, namely -- one of geographic exclusion, when a community hails from ‘far-flung areas’; and the second of social exclusion, when a community is from outside the ‘mainstream of national life’. The Marathas, were none of these. While the court has already struck down the reservation for the Marathas, the government order, giving reservation to Marathas as Kunbis could again be challenged in the court of law where again it might not clear the test.

This could largely be an attempt to appease the Maratha community for the time being till the court issues fresh judgement in case it is challenged. In such situations it is quite likely that the Maratha community may experience progressive deprivation. ‘Progressive deprivation’ essentially means if after a long period of growth, a sharp decline in expectations and capabilities. In the case of Marathas this happened in 2019 when the Bombay high court accepted Maratha reservation following the recommendation of the backward classes commission of the state and subsequently the Supreme Court struck it down, citing the Indira Sawhny case.

If the Marathas in Marathwada are accorded the status of Kunbi, what documentary evidence will the Marathas in the other parts of the state produce to get the OBC status for availing reservations for public employment and admission in educational institutions. Could the Maratha in Marathawada be treated differently than that of the other parts of the state is a larger question that needs to be answered.

Though in some parts of the state the Kunbi community avails the OBC status (in Khandesh, Vidarbha and Konkan regions), the question arises if the 96 Kuli Marathas (who consider themselves superior in the hierarchy) would accept the Kunbi (generally, peasants) status. Further, if at all the state accepts that Marathas be treated as Kunbi, a ‘Shudra’ status, will the Maratha in the rural India give away his ‘social’ status of being a ‘kshitraya Maratha’, land owning and politically prestigious community?

(The writer is a professor in the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai)