Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil begins an eight-day peace march demanding inclusion of Marathas in OBC, warning of contesting elections if promises not kept.
MUMBAI: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil embarked on an eight-day peach march on Saturday to push the demand for the inclusion of Marathas in Other Backward Classes (OBC). The ‘Maratha Quota Awareness Peace March’ will conclude in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar on July 13 after covering eight districts of Marathawada.
Jarange-Patil, who had sat on indefinite hunger strike multiple times from August 2023 to June this year to push his demands, had given one month to the state government to decide on the ‘sage soyare’ notification. The state government, on June 13, had assured him it would issue the notification in a month. After the assurance, given by a delegation of ministers, the activist had said that if the state government failed to keep its promise, he will take a call on contesting assembly elections in all 288 constituencies by fielding Marathas, Lingayats, Dhangars, Muslims and other backward class candidates.
The activist had demanded that ‘sage soyare’ (those related by birth or marriage) be given the Kunbi certificates based on documents with Kunbi remarks that are available with the relatives of Marathas. In response, the state government called for suggestions/objections to the draft notification issued on January 26, to notify the decision of issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas. Once done, it will pave the way for inclusion of the Marathas in OBC, with Kunbi certificates. The move has been strongly opposed by the OBC communities, who started an agitation to oppose it.
On Saturday, Jarange-Patil began the next leg of his agitation -- a peace rally covering the Marathwada region. He started the march from Hingoli, about 165 km from his village Antarwali Sarati in Jalna, and received a grand welcome from community members en route, like being garlanded with a 30-feet garland and showered with flower petals from an earth mover.
Jarange-Patil asserted that the march was not a show of strength or an election campaign rally. “We are just gathering together to push our demands. I am, once again, requesting chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis saheb, to consider our demands. The government is not empathetic towards us, and is, in fact, testing our patience,” he said on Saturday.
He also expressed his unhappiness over the delay in withdrawing the cases lodged by the government against the Maratha protesters last year. “If the government has the willpower, it can act in just a few hours. Do not underestimate the Marathas. Their discontent will cost them dear. OBCs should not be pitted against Marathas,” he said, even as he appealed to the Maratha community members to join the protest.