United in demand, divided over credit

MUMBAI: Even as the Maratha stir picks up momentum across Maharashtra, questions over credit for the state-wide mobilisation of the community has created rifts within.

MUMBAI: Even as the Maratha stir picks up momentum across Maharashtra, questions over credit for the state-wide mobilisation of the community has created rifts within.

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One such row is at the point of origin of the protests in Ahmednagar between Shivprahar Sanghatna and other Maratha groups which organised the protests.

A month ago, the Ahmednagar police served an externment notice to Sanjeev Bhor, the founder of the outfit , which first started the agitation in the state. In the notice, the police asked him why he should not be banned from Ahmednagar, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Beed and Aurangabad in view of his “criminal background”.

Bhor alleged the externment notice was the government’s way of trying to suppress the agitation and called for a bandh in Karjat on Wednesday.

The delayed response to the notice, however, got another Maratha outfit, Sambhaji Brigade, to hit out at Bhor for politicising the protests.

The brigade said the bandh was a “publicity stunt” and refused to support it. With seven other outfits, it wrote to the Ahmednagar district collector on Tuesday saying the notice to Bhor was not related to the marches held by the community.

Shivanand Bhanuse, spokesman for the brigade, said notices to activists were routine and calling a bandh to protest the police action was a distraction from the main cause . “By claiming he was the brain behind the Maratha stir, Bhor is politicising the issue,” Bhanuse said, during a debate on Marathi news channel Maharashtra1.

Bhor hit back, accusing the brigade of double standards. “I was the first to mobilise the community by taking out the protest march. The march later brought together the entire community,” Bhor said.

The notice issued to Bhor states his presence in the five districts could threaten “communal harmony” and cause a “law and order problem”. A decision on the notice is expected on October 17.

Earlier, differences cropped up over the demands raised by Shivaji’s descendent Udayanraje Bhosale on the atrocities act and reservation.