Maratha Quota Activist Ends Fast With A 2-Month Deadline For Government

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange ended his indefinite fast after nine days on Thursday, but not before doubling down on the reservation issue and warning of a bigger agitation if no action was taken in two months on extending benefits in jobs and education to the community, keeping the Maharashtra government on its toes.

Jarange, aged around 40 and whose agitation in support of reservation for the Maratha community, has kept Maharashtra on the boil, vowed to lead a "massive" march to Mumbai if no decision was taken on the emotive issue within two months.

"Then people of Mumbai won't get even vegetables....we will choke Mumbai," warned the activist, who started his indefinite hunger strike in a village here on October 25 -- his second fast on the quota issue in the last three months.

His announcement at the fast site in his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district came after four Maharashtra ministers met him and requested him to call off the indefinite hunger strike.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai later, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde thanked Jarange for calling off the fast. Shinde said every district collector will be asked to deploy ten officials to find old records on the basis of which Kunbi caste certificates can be given to the eligible Marathas.

One of the demands of the activist is that Marathas be given Kunbi caste certificates. The agrarian Kunbi community already gets quota benefits in the OBC category.

"I have ended my fast, but the Maratha quota agitation continues. Relay fasts will also continue," Jarange said, and asked the government to resolve the issue by December 24.

"Though I am not satisfied with anything as of now, this (end of fast) will stop suicides (taking place in support of quota demand) in the state. If the demand for reservation is not fulfilled by December 24, we will choke Mumbai by sitting on its boundary after January 2," Jarange asserted.

A delegation of retired Bombay high court judges Sunil Shukre, M G Gaikwad and some officials also met Jarange, who reiterated his demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes for Marathas across Maharashtra.

The activist demanded "fool proof reservation" and asked the state government to give him its assurance.

The ministerial delegation included Cabinet members of all the three parties which are constituents of the ruling alliance -- the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). It comprised Uday Samant, Sandipan Bhumre, Dhananjay Munde and Atul Save.

Jarange said he will not "touch the door of his residence" till all Marathas get reservation benefits and demanded that a date be fixed to revoke offences registered against quota agitators.

"Why Kunbi caste certificates can't be given to Marathas even after over 13,000 records were found?" he asked.

"They (government) need 45 to 60 days for various committees to do their work for giving sustainable reservation to the Maratha community. We will meet our people from village to village in the meanwhile. If our demands are not accepted, we will sit on the boundary of Mumbai," Jarange said.

The activist had said on Wednesday evening that he would not be drinking water, after an all-party meeting passed a resolution earlier in the day supporting the demand of quota and appealing him to call off his fast.

Jarange on Thursday demanded that the government provide enough funds and deploy multiple teams for the survey of the economic and social backwardness of the Maratha community.

A government order granting Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas should be passed and the word 'throughout' (Maharashtra) should be included in it, he said.

The government has already started the process of giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas from the Marathwada region who can produce old records referring to them or their ancestors as Kunbi.

"When other castes are getting reservation benefits, why are Marathas not getting them?' Jarange asked.

State minister Munde said the additional issues raised by Jarange will be taken up through an all-party proposal on December 8 during the winter session of state legislature in Nagpur.

Members of the ministerial delegation told the activist that reservation cannot be given "in a day or two", but the Maratha community will certainly get it.

Backwardness of the community has not been established yet and work of collecting evidence as per a Supreme Court order is underway, they said.

A decision taken in haste will not stand judicial scrutiny, and a new commission is being formed to measure the community's backwardness, the delegation told Jarange.

The discussion with the ministers and retired judges took place on live TV, with thousands of Jarange's supporters in attendance.

"We need fool proof reservation. Give me your word. If you break your promise, I will not give even a single minute more to the government," Jarange said.

Marathas, an agrarian community, have been demanding reservation in education and government jobs. The movement was given a fresh impetus after Jarange announced an indefinite fast over the demand. The quota agitation was marred by violence and arson with several MLAs' houses or offices set on fire or vandalised in different parts of the state by protesters in the last few days.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said only the Centre can find a solution to the Maratha quota issue, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were busy with poll campaigns while Maharashtra was "burning".

His party's stand has been that the Marathas should be given reservation but it should not eat into the existing quotas of other communities, the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters in Mumbai.

Earlier in the day, several legislators cutting across party lines staged an agitation outside the Mantralaya, the state secretariat in south Mumbai, in support of the reservation demand.

The lawmakers, belonging to the ruling BJP, both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as well as the Shiv Sena, and the Congress, gathered at the gate of the secretariat in the morning and raised slogans demanding reservation for Marathas.

Residents in many villages of Dharashiv district on Thursday launched a 'jail bharo' (court arrest) protest in support of the Maratha quota agitation, an official said in Mumbai.

The jail bharo protest started in Dharashiv after local MLA Kailas Patil was detained by the Mumbai police for agitating to demand reservation for Marathas. Maratha activists gathered in Dharashiv city and Anandnagar Rural area to take part in the protest, the police official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)