Keeping up the pressure over the Maratha reservation issue, quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Sunday said he would soon resume his Maharashtra tour. Villages will begin holding ‘chain fasts’ from December 1 until the Maratha community is granted reservation, he added.
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He said that the State’s Eknath Shinde-led government was working earnestly towards ensuring the Marathas a foolproof reservation, adding that the entire community was looking with hope towards securing a quota by December 24.
Speaking in Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) where he is convalescing after staging a nine-day hunger fast, Mr. Jarange-Patil said: “The Marathas have become aware of their rights now. They have realised there is great power in a sustained and peaceful agitation. There has been a radical transformation in their thinking. People who never hit the streets previously are now coming out in strength. The Marathas are realizing the need to stand up for their rights and those of their children.”
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‘Day of justice’
He said that though he had called off his indefinite hunger strike, the agitation would nonetheless go on until the government delivered a quota to the Marathas by December 24.
“The day of justice is nearing. We do not want to stop the agitation until we have got finally reservation. I will soon announce my programme for a statewide tour. All villages will begin chain fasts from December 1,” he said.
After putting the Shinde government in a tight spot with his second indefinite hunger strike, Mr. Jarange-Patil had finally called it off on November 2 when a delegation of legal experts and Ministers convinced him to grant the government more time to complete the process of including the Marathas in the OBC Kunbi category.
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‘Stop extreme steps’
The activist again appealed to the Maratha community members to stop taking extreme steps by assuring them that the State government had seriously got down to work.
“In every district, the government has commenced work on the quota issue with a sense of urgency. The CM has put every District Collector to work. At least two-three meetings are being held every day by the government. So, you [Maratha community members] should be optimistic. Your self-confidence should increase. You must not be nervous,” said Mr. Jarange-Patil.
A delegation from the State government is expected to meet the activist on Monday.
The plain-spoken Mr. Jarange-Patil, belonging to a humble family of farmers, has become a totem of rectitude in his quest to gain justice for the Maratha community.
His two hunger strikes – one lasting 17 days in September and the other lasting nine days in October and November – had paralysed the government machinery and compelled the Shinde government to expedite the process of granting a quota for the community.