02 November,2023 03:06 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maratha community people shave their heads in support of Maratha reservation. File pic/PTI
Maratha quota stir: The locals in several villages of Maharashtra's Dharashiv district on Thursday launched a 'jail bharo' (court arrest) protest in support of the Maratha quota agitation, an official said, according to the PTI.
The PTI reported, the jail bharo protest started in the district after local MLA Kailas Patil was detained by the Mumbai police for agitating here to demand reservation for Marathas in government jobs and education in the state.
Hundreds of Maratha activists gathered in Dharashiv city and Anandnagar rural area in the morning to take part in the protest, the police official said, according to the news agency.
At Kaudgaon, about 100 activists took part in a jail bharo protest between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm. Of them, 42 were detained under Section 68 of the Maharashtra Police Act, officials said, as per the PTI.
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A large number of policemen were deployed to maintain law and order in the district, they said.
The agitation intensified in the state after activist Manoj Jarange started an indefinite hunger strike to press the quota demand for the second time since August at his native village Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district on October 25.
Manoj Jarange had earlier sat on an indefinite fast in the last week of August and called it off on September 14 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured to look into the quota demand. At that time, Manoj Jarange had set a deadline of 40 days.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday published an order asking officials to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members from
Marathwada, paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
However, Manoj Jarange opposed the move saying the entire Maratha community should be given reservation.
A Maratha community member from Dharashiv in Maharashtra, who was the first one to be given the Kunbi caste certificate in the district as part of the ongoing survey exercise, has reportedly decided to return the document to the authorities, saying he wants all Marathas in the state to be given this benefit, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, Sumit Mane was given the Kunbi caste certificate by the Dharashiv district authorities on Wednesday.
Hours after accepting the certificate, he said that he would give it back to the authorities, maintaining that if the government was feeding only him but keeping his brothers hungry, it was not acceptable to him, the news agency reported on Thursday.
Authorities in Dharashiv on Wednesday started distributing Kunbi caste certificates to the eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for their inclusion in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
Sumit Mane, who hails from Kari village in the district, was the first one to be given the certificate based on the proof.
(with PTI inputs)
