The issue of Maratha reservation is raging in Maharashtra, the land of Marathas. Politics has heated up after the violence that broke out in Jalna on September 1. Violence erupted after police lathicharged thousands of protesters demanding reservation in jobs and education for Marathas. After which the violence spread to many districts of Maharashtra in the form of mass processions, demonstrations and bandhs. The movement of Marathas has increased the problems of the state government. Maratha agitators have given an ultimatum to the state government to implement the assurances on the movement. Manoj Jarange is not ready to back down on this issue now. Rather they are threatening to intensify the movement.
When and why did the violence break out?
On August 29, thousands of protesters gathered in Antarwali Sarathi village of Jalna district to demand reservation in jobs and education for Marathas. Here Manoj Jarange, the convenor of the Maratha Morcha and leading the movement, was sitting on a hunger strike. When Jarange’s condition started deteriorating, the police forced him to end his hunger strike and get admitted to the hospital. The agitators got angry about this and started demonstrating.
The situation got so bad that the police had to resort to lathi charge and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Later, the protesters pelted stones at the police and handed over the vehicles. After this incident in Jalna, people of Maratha community sat on dharna in many cities of Maharashtra including Solapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur.
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What is the Maratha reservation fight?
Actually, the battle of Maratha reservation is being fought in the state for a long time, but it is not that the government has not taken any step in this direction. The state government is trying its best to give reservation to the Marathas again, but it is very difficult to penetrate the wall that has been erected by the Supreme Court.
In the year 2018, the Maharashtra government had given 13% reservation to the Maratha community by enacting a law, but in May 2021, a constitutional bench of 5 judges of the Supreme Court banned the Maratha reservation and said that the 50% limit regarding reservation was not broken. Can go The Supreme Court limited the reservation limit to a maximum of 50 percent in the year 1992.
Why are Marathas asking for reservation?
People of Maratha community demand that we should be given reservation in jobs and education, like backward castes have got. The Marathas claim that a small section of the community enjoys a high position in the society, but the rest of the community lives in poverty. While the Supreme Court has denied that the Maratha community is backward. The Supreme Court has clearly said that Marathas do not need to implement reservation. Reservation has been given to other backward castes under Article 16 of the Constitution. That is, seats have been reserved for those people who are socially and educationally backward.
What is the economic condition of the Marathas?
Maratha community is about 30 percent of the total population of the state. This community is very backward both socially and economically. The Maratha community is not particularly well represented in higher education institutions. Same is the condition of the Maratha community in the field of jobs and industry. Here too the representation is very less. Although there is a section of Marathas which is economically prosperous. These people have control over the land and the agricultural economy of the state.
A report by the State Backward Classes Commission (SBCC) in the year 2018 states that about 37.28 per cent Marathas in Maharashtra are living below the poverty line (BPL). 76.86 percent of the families of this community are dependent on agriculture and agricultural labor. The great thing is that the report says that from 2013 to 2018, 23.56 percent i.e. about 2152 Maratha community farmers committed suicide. The main reason for the suicide was debt and crop failure.
Who is the leader of the fresh movement?
The latest movement for the demand of Maratha reservation is going on under the leadership of Manoj Jarange, the convenor of Maratha Morcha. Jarange has proposed to the government that the government should include the Marathas in the Kunbi community, which comes under the OBC quota. Manoj Jarange Patil has been working for Maratha reservation for the last 13 years. He is a social worker. Jarange is a resident of Matori, Beed, but now lives in Ankushnagar, Jalna. It is said that he even sold his land for the Maratha movement.
Jarange took out marches, fasted unto death, blocked the road to tighten the nose of the government regarding the demand for reservation. He has been active in the Maratha Reservation Movement since 2011. Manoj was initially associated with the Congress, but later broke away from the Congress and formed his own Shivba organization. Manoj is survived by wife, four children, three brothers and parents.
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Which big leaders got support?
After the latest developments, the Maratha agitators are getting good support from the opposition parties. Although the government also has no problem with their movement. Since the violence, government delegations of ministers, MPs, MLAs and others have met Jarangee on at least five occasions and tried to persuade him to call off his hunger strike, but Jarangee refused to budge. Not ready for.
Talking about opposition parties, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena-UBT President Uddhav Thackeray, Congress’s Ashok Chavan, Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray, Prakash Ambedkar, president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Chhatrapati’s descendants Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje Bhosale and Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale and others have been arriving there to express solidarity with the agitators.