Vinod Tawde: Violence during Maratha agitation politically motivated

Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde. (File)

State Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Tuesday said violence perpetrated during the Maratha agitation on July 25 was “politically motivated” by groups “trying to take advantage of the movement”. “Some Maratha leaders inducted their people in the agitations to turn the protests violent. These politically motivated leaders are trying to malign the movement and are taking advantage of the Maratha agitations,” said Tawde on the sidelines of a press conference in the city.

The bandhs called by the Maratha Kranti Morcha across the state over the past week witnessed sporadic incidents of violence and arson in some parts, including Aurangabad in Marathwada region and Pune district. At Aurangabad, Morcha members ransacked several corporate offices, including that of Siemens, set at least five vehicles on fire and hurled stones at Aurangabad City Police Commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad.

Over the past two years, members of the Maratha community have held 58 silent marches across the state but the latest round of agitations have turned violent. “The Aurangabad police commissioner has all the information about those who were behind the vandalism. The information will be revealed to the public very soon,” said Tawde.

Admission deadline extended

Meanwhile, the minister also said the deadline for admission to professional courses has been extended till August 31 for Class XII students, who took their re-examination for the board papers. There are 18,278 such students who took the re-examination and are expecting their results this month. However, since the earlier deadline for admissions was August 15, many students would have lost a year. The Supreme Court has now allowed the state to extend its deadline to August 31 to give a chance to students taking the re-examination in the admission process.

“The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that admissions to all professional courses must be completed before August 15. The state government had appealed to the court to extend the date so that students taking re-examination can also participate. The apex court ruled in the state’s favour on Tuesday,” said Tawde.