Maratha quota scrapped: Community gears up for agitations

The Maratha community is unhappy with the recent Supreme Court (SC) order in which it has struck down the provision of reservation to the community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018

The Maratha community is unhappy with the recent Supreme Court (SC) order in which it has struck down the provision of reservation to the community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. Various organisations representing the community have decided to hold a series of agitations to put pressure on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take steps for restoring the reservation.

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In a statewide meeting of convenors of Maratha Kranti Morcha, an apex body of various organisations of the Maratha community, they have decided to hold virtual agitations by starting social media campaigns against leaders from across the political spectrum. On the other hand, some outfits decided to stage protests at various places in the state.

The convenors said they do not want to risk the lives of the people by asking them to come out on roads in this pandemic. At the same time, they want to build pressure, compelling the governments to take necessary steps to get reservation for the community, be it the state or Centre. They have also roped in experts to examine the SC judgement and help them in determining alternatives, based on which the next course of action will be decided.

On Wednesday, SC struck down the SEBC Act, which was enacted to grant 16% reservation to the Maratha community in government jobs and education in November 2018. In June 2019, while upholding the reservation, the Bombay high court (HC) had reduced the reservation limit to 12% and 13% in government jobs and admissions, respectively, as recommended by Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes (MSCBC) in its report submitted to the state government in 2018.

“We have decided to hold digital (virtual) agitation as we cannot allow the people to endanger their lives by taking to the streets, considering the pandemic situation. We will be holding social media campaigns and target leaders from all the political parties in the state,” said Virendra Pawar, a convenor, who also represents Maratha Mahasangh.

Pawar said they already have a social media team, with the help of which the entire agitation demanding reservation was successfully conducted in 2017. The team will now launch online campaigns and devise other ways to target the politicians.

“We have several pages on Facebook having lakhs of members in each of them. We also have thousands of WhatsApp groups formed for better coordination which will also be used for the agitation. In the meantime, our team of experts will examine the judgement and help in finalising alternatives, on the basis on which further decision will be taken,” he added.

Meanwhile, offices of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Satara district were attacked by unknown people on Thursday morning. In two different incidents, a group of people hurled stones at the offices leading to damage of windowpane and other accessories. Local police are probing both the incidents, according to Lokmat, a Marathi daily.

In another meeting held by Maratha Kranti Thok Marcha (MKTM) in Beed district, it was decided to start agitation for reservation on the lines of guerrilla warfare that was adopted by Maratha warriors during the regime of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Abasaheb Patil, convenor of MKTM, said, “We are not going to disclose our plans on how agitations are going to be held. We have lost all the faith in this government because it has failed in the legal battle, and the community is at the receiving end. We want reservation to be restored; that’s it.”

Sanjiv Bhor Patil, president of Shiv Prahar Sangathana, said they were examining the SC order and are yet to decide on the next step. “We have asked experts and researchers, who have studied the case, to give their opinion after examining the judgement copy. We will find out the root cause of this judgement and then decide whether we have to continue the legal battle, fight a political battle or hit the roads,” Patil said.

Vinayak Mete, who heads the political outfit Shiv Sangram, declared that they will start an agitation from Beed district and subsequently hold them in other districts from May 16. He demanded that the state file a review petition in the Apex court against the order. He will also be seeking time from the chief minister in this regard. Mete had contested the state Assembly elections in 2014 from Beed constituency as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and had extended his support to the erstwhile BJP government.

“We want justice which was snatched from us because of negligence of the state government. It is now the responsibility of the chief minister to provide reservation benefits to the Maratha community. We have decided to start the agitation from Beed,” Mete said.

He further suggested that the government should constitute a study and rectify the findings of the MSCBC that were rejected by the Apex court. “The state government should consider providing reservation to the community in the existing quota of other communities. It should also look into providing benefits to Marathas under the 10% reservation of economically weaker section (EWS) passed by the Centre last year,” Mete said.

The Centre has decided to provide 10% reservation to all those under EWS category who are not covered under the existing scheme of reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The amendment to the act was cleared by the Parliament in 2019.

Meanwhile, public works department minister and head of state cabinet’s sub-committee on Maratha reservation Ashok Chavan alleged that some people have been inciting Maratha community which could endanger lives of the people during the pandemic. “People should keep in mind that the safety of the citizens is important as we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nobody should incite the Maratha community just for the purpose of cornering the MVA government politically,” he said.