MUMBAI: Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange Patil, who set a December 24 deadline for the Maharashtra government to grant reservation, has now embarked on a nine-day statewide tour to advocate for Maratha reservations.
Patil asserts that the incumbent government will not be allowed to rest until Maratha reservations are granted. He outlines their protest strategy, emphasizing peaceful demonstrations in every village and forming a chain to prevent the entry of political leaders into their respective villages. Patil clarifies that their cause is not against any specific caste or community but a fight for their long-denied rights. He states firmly, “Now, no one can fool the Maratha community.”
During his visit to the Beed district on Wednesday, Patil met with the police superintendent, urging against filing false charges and arresting Maratha youths. He alleges that the violence in Beed was orchestrated by individuals unrelated to the Maratha protest. On his nine-day tour, Patil will address rallies in various parts of the state, including Pune, Kalyan and Nasik.
Amid conflicting statements from the government and others on Maratha reservations, Patil clarified that their demand centers on granting Kunbi caste certificates to all Maratha community members. “There are different statements coming from the government and other people over Maratha reservations. We want to clarify that we are firm on our demand for giving Kunbi caste certificates to all Maratha community people. We expect that the Justice Sandeep Shinde committee will do its work properly and establish that there is no difference in Maratha and Kunbi and vice versa by getting the Nizam era documents. Once this is clear, then the state government should start giving the Kunbi certificate to all Marathas, so that they can avail the benefit in the OBC category,” Patil said.
Contrary to the December 24 deadline, a government source highlights the complexity of scrutinising Nizam era documents, which are in Urdu, Modi, or Farsi. Translation challenges complicate the process, needing time and expertise.