Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil to start a statewide tour soon

Citing how several youths from the community died by suicide, Jarange-Patil urged the community not to take such extreme measures for the reservation. “We have to win this fight together,” he said and also requested them not to engage in violence

Mumbai: Three days after calling off his indefinite hunger strike, Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil is preparing to embark on a statewide tour. Jarange-Patil, who is still recuperating at a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar formerly Aurangabad, on Sunday said that the community needs to be kept awake hence he will soon begin touring the state soon. To keep up pressure on the state government, he also asked the Marathas to start relay hunger strike from December 1.

Navi Mumbai, India - Oct. 19, 2023:Maratha community activist Manoj Jarange-Patil visit at Shivaji Maharaj Chowk Vashi, in Navi Mumbai, India, on Thursday, October 19, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

With the aim of demanding reservation in government jobs and education for Marathas, Jarange-Patil launched his indefinite hunger strike on October 25. On Thursday, he ended the nine-day-old long hunger strike after the state government promised to fulfil his demand by December 24 and agreed to withdraw police cases registered against Marathas during the protest and to give Kunbi caste certificates to them if they could produce documents from the pre-Independence period. A commission is also being constituted to collate data to prove the backwardness of the Maratha community.

“I am again going to meet the community and take their blessings by holding a statewide tour. The date is going to be declared soon,” Jarange-Patil said, adding, “We cannot stop the protest until we get justice. We all have to be awake till December 24.”

This is the second time Jarange-Patil will be touring the state. On September 30, he embarked on a 14-day tour to mobilise the community over reservation demand. Before this, he was on a 17-day hunger strike to press for his demand for reservation to the politically significant community. He is the new face of the Maratha reservation protest and got all the support from the community.

Soon after the hunger strike was called off, Jarange-Patil was admitted to the Galaxy Superspeciality Hospital and Research Institute in Aurangabad with kidney problems and nausea apart from severe dehydration, low blood pressure and poor blood supply to both his kidneys on Thursday. It was also revealed that his blood urea levels were significantly elevated at 55, compared to the normal level of 40.

On Sunday, the Maratha activist said that he was doing fine. “It is all because of the hard work of doctors that I have recovered really fast. Though there are days when I do face indigestion and nausea,” Jarange-Patil said.

The demand for reservation quota by Marathas is decades old, but in 2018 the state government granted 16% reservation in the face of sweeping protests. This was slashed to 13 percent in jobs and 12 percent in education by the Bombay high court. In 2021, the Supreme Court quashed the move.