Jarange’s hunger strike continues; protesters turn Azad Maidan area into open camp

Maratha rights activist Manoj Jarange’s hunger strike in Mumbai to press for quota for the community continued for the third day on Sunday (August 31), a day after the 43-year-old gave a cold shoulder to a government delegation which met him at Azad Maidan.

Mumbai Police on Saturday extended permission for Jarange’s protest by another day.

As a result of the protest, thousands of Maratha community members have virtually turned the area surrounding the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai into an open camp, with some of the protesters even taking bath in the open.

Traffic in and around the Azad Maidan protest venue was majorly hampered on Saturday, with the sea of protesters making the movement of vehicles difficult. Many youngsters were even seen dancing on the road to the beats of halgi, a traditional drum.

While many of them had to cook their food on the road on Friday night, packets of cooked food, including khichdi, were distributed on Saturday.

Chaos outside protest venue

As the rains took a break, many more people were on the roads outside the iconic Victorian edifices of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), bringing traffic to a standstill on Saturday morning.

The road outside the Azad Maidan — where activist Manoj Jarange has launched his indefinite fast for Maratha quota — has been closed for traffic, with parked vehicles of his supporters lining both sides.

Also read: CM Fadnavis on Maratha quota: Govt working to resolve issue legally

Some of the protesters took bath in the open, using water from tankers arranged by the organisers or the BMC. A group of seven to eight young men was on Saturday seen bathing in a fountain near the BMC building.

They complained about the lack of basic amenities such as water and toilets. Jarange accused the municipal commissioner and state-appointed BMC administrator Bhushan Gagrani of not making food and water available to the protesters.

The groups of protesters — nearly all of them wearing saffron scarfs — shouted slogans, asserting they would not leave until the community was granted reservation in government jobs and education.

Some protesters on Saturday reached the Jehangir Art Gallery, about one kilometre away from the Azad Maidan, and shouted slogans. Many wandered off to visit local landmarks such as the Gateway of India and thronged eateries in the area.

In Navi Mumbai, where hundreds of vehicles carrying protesters have been parked, a group who claimed to be from Beed was seen heckling a young couple. The couple left the area immediately.

Some groups of protesters also blocked the road outside the CSMT on Saturday morning, complaining the BMC made no arrangement of shelter, water and toilets for them. Finally, Jarange appealed to them, over microphone from his protest site, to clear the road.

According to police, some 45,000 protesters travelled to south Mumbai on Friday, and about 30,000 of them stayed back overnight.

The protesters have arrived in the state capital from across Maharashtra — a significant number of them from the eight districts of Marathwada — in some 8,000 vehicles, say police estimates.

Wrong man for the job?

Talks have so far been fruitless. The Maratha leader slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for sending retired High Court judge Sandeep Shinde, who heads a committee set up to expedite the process of granting reservation to the community, to hold talks with him.

“It is not Justice Shinde’s job to issue a Government Resolution (GR) announcing grant of reservation to Marathas,” Jarange said on Saturday, vowing to continue the agitation.

While Fadnavis has said the government is trying to find a solution within the constitutional and legal framework, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar has said a constitutional amendment to raise the cap on overall reservation was necessary.

Jarange’s demand

Jarange has been demanding a 10 per cent quota for Marathas and wants them to be recognised as Kunbis — an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes category — which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education, though OBC leaders are opposed to it.

The activist, who had launched a hunger strike on seven occasions in the past, has claimed this is the community’s “final fight”.

Also read: Vehicles move through traffic congestion on P D'Mello Road amid protest by Maratha Kranti Morcha act

As the delegation met him on Saturday, Jarange said the committee headed by Justice Shinde studied gazettes related to the issue for the past 13 months and now it was time for it to submit its report to pave the way for Marathas to get Kunbi status.

“Marathas in Marathwada must be declared as Kunbis and given reservation. The Hyderabad and Satara gazettes must be made into law for this,” Jarange said during the talks which were telecast live on Marathi news channels.

Caste complications

Justice Shinde said he was not authorised to give such a report, and it was the job of the Backward Class commission. “Caste certificate is given to individuals and not the entire community,” the former judge added.

Justice Shinde told reporters that the state cabinet had given in-principle approval to the Hyderabad Gazette. “I will go back to the cabinet sub-committee (on the Maratha quota issue) with details of my discussion with Jarange,” he added.

Justice Shinde heads the committee formed in September 2023 by the then Eknath Shinde government to decide the methodology for issuing Kunbi caste certificates to members of the Maratha community.

(With agency inputs)