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Jarange-Patil refuses to budge, insists on leading Maratha quota march to Mumbai
Top officials rushed to Vashi on Friday morning to convince Jarange-Patil against entering Mumbai as the march there would lead to chaos and bring the city to a standstill
Protesters have started gathering at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan as activist Manoj Jarange-Patil insisted on sitting for another indefinite hunger strike there on Friday as the march he is leading to press for reservation for the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category was set to enter the country’s financial capital.
A social justice department secretary Sumant Bhange-led team of government officials earlier rushed to Vashi, around 30 km from Azad Maidan, to convince Jarange-Patil against entering Mumbai as the march there would lead to chaos and bring the city to a standstill.
All efforts to dissuade him from continuing the march and sitting on a hunger strike have so far failed. Jarange-Patil was expected to address a rally at Shivaji Maharaj Chowk after his latest meeting with the officials.
Jarange-Patil began the march on January 20, saying he would sit on a fast unto death until the state government announced reservation for the community largely dependent on agriculture. Tens of thousands of people have joined him over the last week.
Police have rejected permission to take the march to Azad Maidan. As the protesters stand firm, the march may be allowed to enter the city via Eastern Freeway and P D’Mello Road to ensure there are no major traffic snarls.
Jarange-Patil’s protest has been described as the biggest in Maharashtra’s history. Organisers on Thursday asked community members to join the march at Vashi before it enters the country’s financial capital. They claimed over a million people were part of the march.
Aurangabad’s divisional commissioner Madhukar Raje Ardad met Jarange-Patil in Lonavala on Thursday to brief him about the action taken so far to meet his demand. Ardad sought to convince Jarange-Patil against taking the protest to Mumbai.
A defiant Jarange-Patil vowed to continue leading the march demanding the inclusion of all Marathas under the OBC category by giving them Kunbi sub-caste certificates. Kunbis have a quota in jobs and educational institutes under the OBC category.
Jarange-Patil rejected the government’s appeals to stop the march and wait until February when it plans a special session for the passage of a law for Maratha reservation.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde said the government was “positive” towards Jarange-Patil’s demands. “We will ensure the reservation is legally viable. I appeal to Jarange-Patil to stop the agitation,” said Shinde on Wednesday.
Jarange-Patil earlier resumed his hunger strike in October after his 40-day deadline to the Maharashtra government for the reservation to all Marathas passed even as the state government requested the activist to call off the agitation.
The government has maintained it needs time for the reservation, which stands legal scrutiny, while promising to accede to Jarange-Patil’s demand. Jarange-Patil has insisted on continuing his agitation until the quota was announced.
Jarange-Patil, who has questioned the government for going back on its word, ended his previous 17-day hunger strike on September 14 in the presence of Shinde after an assurance that the government would take a call on the matter in 30 days.
The state government granted 16% reservation to the community in 2018 after protests, acceding to the decades-old Maratha demand. The Bombay high court slashed the quota to 13% in jobs and 12% in education before the Supreme Court in 2021 quashed the move.
The police lathi charge in Jalna at the site of Patil’s hunger on September 1 fuelled the agitation for the OBC status of Marathas.
Shinde later announced that Marathas from central Maharashtra could get quota under the OBC category if they produce certificates classifying them as Kunbi.
The state government in September appointed retired judge Sandeep Shinde-led committee to explore modalities of the reservation. The Maratha groups insisted they wanted reservations without any stipulation amid concerns among Kunbi and other OBC groups.
The state government has found 5.7 million Kunbi certificates. Jarange-Patil has insisted that all Marathas are Kunbi and should get quota under the OBC quota.
