Maratha reservation: Sambhaji Brigade calls for another agitation

Members said that toned-down strikes did not resonate with CM; give him eight days to reconsider demands

While the Maratha Kranti Morcha leaders have decided not to take the protests to the streets, citing violent incidents of the past, the Sambhaji Brigade has announced another protest starting from September 1— this time on the streets. They believe that the government has ignored the agitation was toned down.

On August 10, the members Maratha Kranti Morcha announced that they would come down on the road in a bid to curb the violence across the state. The announcement followed after the protests on August 9 which marked two years of the Kranti Morcha. This agitation took a violent turn, resulting in cops having to resort to lathi-charge, bursting teargas shells and arresting over 181 protesters towards the end.

It prompted the idea of a model code of conduct among agitators. The members elaborated that henceforth, the protests will be confined to homes to ensure that such situations would not arise.

But, just within four days, the Sambhaji Brigade has announced that they are giving an eight-day ultimatum to the Chief Minister to reconsider their demands or else, the phase-II of protests would begin. While they have not said anything regarding the nature of their agitation, they have said that it will be mounted on a scale that it will make ruling party to take a firm decision based on their demands.

Speaking at a conference in the city, Manoj Akhare, state president of Sambhaji Brigade, said “The Chief Minister had announced that a special session to discuss the issue would be called soon. But, he has still not announced the date. He had also claimed that they would be withdrawing the cases filed against the Maratha protesters. No decision has been taken in this regard. Considering this, we have decided to launch protests again. We will wait for eight days and if no decision is announced, a state-wide protest will begin.”

He also said that they have been fighting for last 20 years and so, they know how to handle the protest. “Also maintaining law and order is government’s responsibility,” he added.

However, member of Maratha Kranti Morcha, Rajendra Kondhare, said that while they are still firm on its stand, they would not want a threatening agitation again. “It has become clear that there were outside elements which tried taking benefit of the protests by resorting to violence. Now, we have decided that no such protests should be organised that will jeopardise citizens’ safety. We won’t support any such protests too and other organisations also should abide by this, too,” he said.