Maratha activist sitting on an indefinite hunger strike in the village of Antarwali Sarathi in the Jalna district of Maharashtra demanded reservation for his community in the state. The Maratha agitator Manoj Jarange-Patil, who was largely unknown until the past month, is now well-known, and the agitation has taken an aggressive turn throughout the state. The situation worsened when the agitation turned violent and the police started lathi-charging the demonstrators.
With the state assembly and Lok Sabha elections approaching, state politics are once again dominated by the complex issue of the Maratha reservation demand.Political leaders from all parties have been rushing to meet Jarange-Patil to offer their support for the last two weeks.The issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to every Maratha member is one of the main demands of this agitation. On September 7, the Maharashtra government released a resolution stating that all Marathas from the Marathwada region will receive certificates of Kunbi caste if they have “Nizam-era” documents, such as revenue, educational records, and other supporting documentation, and if “Kunbi” is mentioned in their lineage.
In a late-night media statement on Monday, Chief Minister Shinde stated, “We asked him [Jarange-Patil] to allow the Justice Shinde committee some time to put together (a proposal on the feasibility of awarding Kunbi certificates to Marathas).” Additionally, we have decided to add him or his representative to the committee. Along with our apology for the incident involving the lathicharge, we have also decided to suspend the three officials involved.
Maratha leader Shinde is in charge of the Maharashtra government. Ajit Pawar, his deputy, is also a member of the Maratha community that holds sway. The demand for Maratha reservation is not new.Around 32 years ago, Mathadi Labour Union leader Annasaheb Patil first began the Maratha reservation agitation. The demand has time and again come up, mostly around elections. In 2014, just months before the assembly elections, the then state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, relying on the then Narayan Rane committee report, brought in an ordinance introducing 16% reservation for the community, particularly in government jobs and education. The government led by Devendra Fadnavis advanced this in 2014.
However, the Bombay High Court reduced the 16% reservation to 12% in education and 13% in employment. The Supreme Court completely abolished the Marathas’ quota in 2021. The court stated, “Reservation cannot exceed the 50% limit in states.” To protest the government’s decision to include Marathas as Kunbis in the OBC quota, numerous groups from the Kunbi, Mali, and Dhangar communities have started demonstrations all over the state. The OBCs claim the state government has completely disregarded them while it is occupied with starting discussions with Jarange-Patil and other Maratha leaders. The leaders had made the decision to start an ongoing sit-in protest on Sunday, September 10, and to continue it until they received assurances from the government that the reservation would not proceed.
Attending the meeting, OBC Mahasangh president Baban Taywade urged the OBC community to collectively oppose the government’s action.
“The Marathas cannot be accepted into the OBC as a sub-caste because they are a distinct community. We have nothing against the reservations that the Marathas have been demanding. However, they cannot just be grouped with us.We are prepared to oppose the government if they are acting under duress, Taywade declared. Following the marathas, another caste grouping called the jats intends to take to the streets and start a protest in order to demand that their caste be granted OBC status at the federal level as well as in several other states, most notably Haryana. The situation facing the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is difficult considering its ongoing problems in Maharashtra related to the reservation of Maratha people. In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, the BJP may face challenges in northern India if the powerful jats community pursues their demand for inclusion in the central OBC list.
