NCP chief Sharad Pawar asks Marathas to shun violence, says it may cause more unemployment

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Maharashtra chief minister, Sharad Pawar, while appealing to the Marathas for agitating peacefully on Saturday,

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Maharashtra chief minister, Sharad Pawar, while appealing to the Marathas for agitating peacefully on Saturday, said violent protests will badly affect the investment in the state and subsequently result in rise in the unemployment.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar at the NFAI Arun Sadhu event in Pune recently. (Rahul Raut/HT Photo)

Pawar also said some people with vested interests including politicians are deliberately attempting to defame the movement and create a rift between Marathas and other communities. “Ruling politicians have conspired to create a division between Marathas and other communities, but they [the Marathas] should not fall prey to this plan. Chhatrapati Shivaji ensured inclusion of people from various castes and balutedars while establishing his ideal rule. The Marathas have been protesting by worshipping the Maratha warrior and they should be careful to not damage those ideals,” Pawar said in a statement released on Saturday.

Pawar also said nobody has opposed reservation for Marathas, but it should be accorded without any prejudice and without touching the existing quota allotted to other communities. The Maratha community should avoid violence, aggression, and damage to public property as it may lose the support of other communities, which it garnered during the silent marches staged in 2016-17, he said.

Coordinators of the Maratha protests have called off the protest for now. Congratulating them on the decision, Pawar said adequate time and a favourable peaceful atmosphere are necessary to complete the statutory procedure of reservation. He also quoted the statistics by Gokhale Institute to establish the backwardness of the community.