E-Paper
Maratha bandh peaceful in Koregaon Park
Most shops and commercial establishments in the area were shut during the day.
Members of Maratha Kranti Morcha observed a bandh at the Koregaon Park area in the city by shutting down shops on Thursday to press for their demands, including reservation to the community and withdrawal of cases.
The notice given to the shopkeepers the previous day by the Morcha said, “In the wake of the ongoing Maratha agitation in the entire state, we have called for a bandh in the Koregaon Park area. The bandh has been called to yet again highlight our demands before the state government of reservations for the Maratha community.”
Most shops and commercial establishments in the area were shut during the day. The bandh was largely peaceful. Earlier, on Monday, the bandh called by Maratha outfits at Chakan turned violent with over 100 vehicles damaged and 30 of them torched.
The notice added, “We also demand all the charges on the protesters of the Maratha morcha to be revoked by the state government. On this premises, we request all the shopkeepers to comply with our request of bandh and cooperate with us.”
However, the bandh has not gone down very well with the shopkeepers as they had to keep their shops closed with a fear of any violence against them.
Jay Mirchandani, owner of the outlet of Budhani wafers in the area, said, “We do not want to risk our safety and keep the shops open at the time when we have already being asked to shut down our operations by the protesters of Maratha Morcha.”
He added, “We had opened our shop in the morning for a while. However, few protesters came and forced us to keep the shop closed. It is better to incur loss for one day than to face the heat from these protesters.”
