Maratha activists threaten state-wide protests on 9 August if Maharashtra govt fails to fulfil demand to withdraw cases against protesters

Aurangabad: The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) has warned that it would hold a state-wide protest on 9 August if the Maharashtra government fails to fulfil the community’s various demands. A delegation of the MKM submitted a memorandum to the divisional commissioner in Aurangabad on Wednesday evening, drawing the government’s attention to their demands. The MKM said the government should pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to the family members of “42 people, who laid down their lives” during the protests for Maratha quota. It also demanded a government job to one family member of each of the 42 deceased. [caption id=“attachment_4867271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of people participating in a Maratha community protest march in Mumbai. PTI[/caption] It added that although the government had decided to withdraw cases lodged against 13,700 Maratha protesters, the decision is yet to be implemented. In the memorandum, the MKM also complained that nationalised banks were not cooperating in disbursal of loans to the community. The organisation said that although the state government had promised to make hostels available for the Maratha community students in every district, it was yet to act on it. “If the government does not take a decision on these demands by 8 August, then members of the community will hold a state-wide agitation on 9 August,” Rajendra Datey Patil of the MKM said. Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 percent of the state’s population, had been demanding 16 percent reservation. The community had earlier taken out silent marches across the state to highlight their demands, prominent among them being that of reservation. However, the protest turned violent after a 27-year-old protester jumped to his death in Godavari river near Aurangabad in July last year. On 20 November, 2018, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill granting 16 percent reservation in education and government jobs for the Marathas, declared a socially and educationally backward class by the state government. In June this year, the Bombay High Court upheld the constitutional validity of reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education. It, however, said the quota percentage should be reduced from 16 percent to 12 to 13 percent, as recommended by the State Backward Classes Commission.