With the community bringing its protest to the city, mid-day examines the Maratha agitation that could draw a record-breaking gathering
Parallel routes are marked out and participants walk on the streets until their paths merge and the entire crowd then heads towards the government office to make their demands known. Pics courtesy/Magic Photo Studio, Beed
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Political and social classes are taken aback by the way the Maratha community has swept through the state with their silent marches. What began as a modest, peaceful rally in Aurangabad on August 9, is soon expected to turn into a record-breaking protest once it reaches Mumbai – where organisers are expecting to draw a staggering 25 lakh Marathas.
However, the organisers have promised that Mumbai’s public transport will not be affected and that citizens will not be subjected to any inconvenience. There will no violence on the streets, they said. In fact, even though this is a caste-based agitation, zero violence and strict discipline has been a consistent feature of all the rallies under the Maratha Kranti Muk Morcha (revolutionary silent march).
The trigger
The restive community has dominated the state’s politics for decades, but was triggered to protest after the gang rape and murder of a Maratha minor girl by Dalit youths in Kopardi (Ahmednagar) in July this year. Marathas complained that whenever they tried to complain against such crimes by Dalits, they were threatened with the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Now, Marathas are not only demanding stern punishment for the accused in the rape case, but also want a review of the law. In addition, the community is also miffed that even though they were granted job and education quota by the Congress-NCP regime, the reservation didn’t hold up in court.
The Mumbai march will likely take place in October or November and will be the last event in this series of protests. Marches that took place in Aurangabad, Osmanabad, Jalgaon, Beed and Parbhani witnessed participation of 50,000 to 5 lakh people. Dates for another 14 districts have been fixed between September 17 and 29. By the time the agitation heads to Mumbai, the organisers are confident they will pull enough crowd to break all national records. Another bigger march is expected to be taken out in Nagpur later, where the winter session of legislature will be held in December.
Political tug of war
Speculations are rife and political parties are accusing each other of fuelling the protests for their own gains. Some say that NCP leaders are behind the movement because their party is predominantly a party of Marathas. NCP president Sharad Pawar has, however, denied his party’s active participation. Another section of politicians accuse the BJP government of trying to take advantage of the Maratha unrest, to try and direct all the anger towards the previous government and Marathas leaders who have been in power for the past 60 years.
But organisers insist that political leaders are allowed to participate in the marches but are not granted any opportunity to hijack the event by way of making speeches or statements. An MP from Marathwada pointed out that it would be a mistake for politicians to miss out on the protest. “I walked along with leaders from other parties in the last tier. All of us followed instructions because we know that the community is angry with public representatives as well.”
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