Maratha youth gather at Azad Maidan for ‘jail bharo agitation’. (Express photo by Vishwas Waghmode)
The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) on Wednesday started a “jail bharo agitation” in Mumbai, which it says will be undertaken across the state between August 1 and 9. They have demanded the ‘immediate withdrawal of all criminal cases’ against members of the Maratha community, who took part in the previous protest marches.
The organisation has claimed that that there would be any violence. On the lines of the MKM’s “muk morcha “ or silent march, local Maratha units will drive the agitation. No established leaders representing the mainstream parties will be allowed at any event.
“Our foremost demand is immediate withdrawal all the criminal cases against our community. While the CM had announced that all criminal cases against the Marathas who participated in the earlier agitation be withdrawn, it has not been implemented on the ground,” MKM, Mumbai Unit coordinator, Kedar Suryavanshi said.
They are also demanding an apology or the resignations of Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil for hurting the sentiments of the community.
The police have registered an FIR against 4,000 to 5,000 miscreants for the violence on Monday in which 20 vehicles were set afire, 70 others vandalised, a police station was attacked and eight cops were injured.
(Express photo by Rajesh Stephan )
The protest on Pune Nashik Highway in Chakan and Khed area had taken a violent turn and the protesters had blocked the highway for over eight hours.
Twenty vehicles including many public transport buses were gutted and 60 more vehicles were targeted by stone pelters. From Tuesday morning, police started looking into hundreds of CCTV and phone camera footages to identify the persons involved in violence.
Maratha quota stir took violence turns at Chakan, Maharashtra on July 30, 2018 (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
In the wake of the pro-reservation protest by the Maratha community in Maharashtra, the Opposition on Monday upped the ante against the Devendra Fadnavis government. But in the process, differences that exist within both the Congress and the NCP over the reservation issue came to light.
To corner the government over the issue, both parties convened a meeting of their legislative wing on Monday.
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Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said that the state government must convene a special Assembly session to give reservation to the Marathas without waiting for the report of the State Backward Class Commission, which has been entrusted with the task of studying the socio-economic status of the community.
“The Maratha community had held several peaceful protests two years ago but the issue was not considered seriously. The ball was put in the judiciary’s court. We had demanded a special Assembly session two years ago and it has now been accepted by all Opposition parties and the government,” said Uddhav after a meeting with Sena ministers and legislators.
While condemning the violence witnessed in Pune on Monday, some key Maratha leaders today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention into their ongoing agitation for OBC status for their community.
“The Prime Minister remained silent when we took out 58 silent morchas. The world took note but there was not a single tweet from the Prime Minister hailing the silent and peaceful marches,” said Aba Patil, one of the coordinators of the Maratha Kranti Morcha.
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(Express Photo by Vishwas Waghmode)
“After the Maharashtra Bandh call last week, which lead to incidents of violence and suicides, there is growing pressure within the community to take some corrective measures,” an MKM leader said. Therefore, the organisation has decided to ensure peaceful demonstrations. They should also ensure public life was not affected while staging the ‘jail bharo’.”
MKM, Mumbai Unit coordinator, Kedar Suryavanshi said, “We are appealing our youths against resorting to such extreme steps like suicides. It is extremely unfortunate. The organisation has demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation from the government for those who ended lives and Rs 10 lakh for those seriously injured.”
MKM believes suicides will not help their cause. Instead, every body should remain organised to ensure reservation is granted and they are alive to avail the benefits.
A day after rampant violence erupted in Chakan area of Pune district, police have started investigating how large mobs of miscreants were mobilised and attacks on vehicles and police personnel carried out. As police teams began sifting through hundred of videos and images of the violence, officials said they were probing the role of “non-locals and the floating population” in acts of arson and vandalism. Read More
Five people have committed suicide, while several others attempted to kill themselves as the agitation by the Maratha community demanding reservation intensified. The state witnessed the fifth suicide on Tuesday as a 35-year-old man committed suicide at Beed district.
In the self-immolation attempt, held outside the tehsildar office at Ausa in Latur district — also in Marathwada region — eight protesters poured kerosene on themselves and attempted suicide
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The renewed agitation by the Marathas in Maharashtra for reservation is a textbook study of how consensus across the political spectrum does not guarantee reasonable policy. No major political party in the state seems to have any objection to giving reservation to the Marathas and yet a coherent policy appears elusive if not impossible. This is mainly because of the tendency to take recourse to consensus both as avoidance and as competitive populism. Read More
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday took the decision to stand guarantor for loans to be given to youth from the Maratha community, under a scheme of the state-run Annabhau Sathe Financial Development Corporation. The scheme aims to improve the financial condition of backward communities by offering assistance for self-employment and other business ventures.
Martha Mukti Morcha is also demanding a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the youths who lost their lives during the current agitation and Rs 10 lakh for the injured. “We demand that cases should be registered against Fadnavis and Patil for the violence during the bandh held on July 25,” said Amol Jadhavrao, a MKM leader.
Welcome to The Indian Express LIVE blog for the latest developments on Maratha quota stir. Follow our blog as members of Maratha Mukti Morcha launch 'jail bharo agitation' in Mumbai today. The agitation will go on till August 9.