OBCs hit back; threaten chain hunger strike, morcha in Mumbai

OBC activists plan protests against Maratha reservation demands, asserting their rights and calling for the revocation of Kunbi certificates aiding Marathas' OBC status.

MUMBAI: On the back of quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s stir over the demand for reservation of Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category in education and employment, OBCs have threatened a counter-protest to defend their share of the reservation. Leaders from the community have declared a chain hunger strike over the next couple of days, followed by a morcha akin to Jarange-Patil’s in Mumbai. They have also demanded that Kunbi (a sub-caste of Marathas) certificates issued to Marathas, which facilitates their entry into the OBC category be revoked.

OBCs hit back; threaten chain hunger strike, morcha in Mumbai

A day after the activist started his march from Antarwali Sarathi village, in Jalna district, leaders from the OBC community held a meeting in Nagpur, and announced plans of protests to defend their rights. Jarange-Patil’s demand for reservation for the Maratha community in the OBC quota has disturbed community members.

After the meeting, Babanrao Taywade, president of the National OBC Mahasangh, said, “The government should respect the promise made to us about not touching the OBC reservation, which is our constitutional right.”

In September 2023, when he was chief minister, Eknath Shinde had promised OBC leaders that their quota would not be affected following a hunger strike started by Jarange-Patil.

“We will start our agitation in three phases. We will begin by creating awareness against the demand for the reservation from the OBC quota on Friday. This will be followed by a chain hunger strike at Constitution Chowk, Nagpur, and many other districts from the day-after-tomorrow,” Taywade announced. “In the third stage, we will lead a morcha to Mumbai in large numbers in the next 15 days.”

OBC activist Mrunal Dhole Patil demanded that Kunbi sub-caste of the Maratha community be removed from the OBC quota. To support his demand he cited verdicts from the Supreme Court in three different cases and said, “The communities qualify to get reservation not only on the basis of social backwardness but also insufficient representation.”

He illustrated the point by presenting statistics of all local bodies in Pune district, claiming that over 50 per cent of the seats were filled by Kunbi candidates. “These numbers are conclusive evidence that the Kunbi community has got adequate representation and they are not entitled to get reservation from the OBC quota,” he emphasized.

This is not the first time when OBCs have shown a unified front and started a parallel agitation against the demands made by Jarange-Patil. Last year, they held a series of rallies and protests after the activist led a morcha to Mumbai from Jalna.