The week long agitation by leaders of the Dhangar (shepherd) community demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in Maharashtra turned violent, after the agitators burned down a state transport bus in the state’s Pandharpur district.
Following the government’s announcement of Maratha and Muslim community, the Dhangar community which is currently enlisted in the Nomadic Tribe (NT) category began agitating.
The community began agitation as they want to be enlisted in the ST category to avail of higher quantum of reservations.
The agitation has cornered the ruling Congress- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government in the pol bound state. Dhangar community leaders have started an indefinite fast in NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s bastion, Baramati.
According to the leaders of the Dhangar community, a simple replacement of alphabet ‘d’ with ‘r’ has kept them out of the ST list. “Dhangad is already in the ST category. Despite being same as them we are out of this as we are called Dhangar,” said Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mr. Jankar said that the state government merely has to send a simple clarification to the Centre regarding this mistake and all problems will be solved. “Not a single Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra has ever bothered to listen to our grievances. We will not rest this time, until we get the ST status,” he told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, the ST leaders in the state have opposed the demand. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s car was stopped by few tribal activists in Nandurbar on Monday, who were opposing the Dhangar community’s demands.
Around 18 tribal MLAs and 2 MPs from the state met President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, claiming the Dhangars already enjoy the reservation through NT category. “We have no problem with the Dhangar community’s reservation, but we will not allow you to touch out reservation,” said Madhukar Pichad, an NCP leader and a tribal himself, in New Delhi.
