Maratha quota stir: Suicide count across Maharashtra rises to 6; Fadnavis says reservations should stand up to legal 'scrutiny'

The spate of suicides spurred by the Maratha quota agitation rose to six on Tuesday as a labourer and a student ended their lives, while eight protesters attempted self-immolation in Maharashtra.

The 17-year-old student died after jumping into a well at Vadodbazar village in Fulambri teshil of Aurangabad district, police said.

Pradip Hari Mhaske, who secured 75 percent marks in the 10th standard exam, failed to secure admission in a junior college and a technical training institute in absence of any Maratha quota in these institutions, an official said.

Mhaske’s suicide triggered a fresh set of protests, with Maratha community members staging a ‘rasta roko’ protest on the Aurangabad-Jalgaon road.

His family members demanded immediate grant of quota for Marathas, financial compensation and also action against the college which denied him admission, he said.

Abhijeet Deshmukh (35), a farm labourer in Veeda village in Beed district in Marathwada region hanged himself from a tree near his house on Tuesday, police said.

Among the other reasons Deshmukh mentioned in his suicide note were unemployment and an unpaid bank loan, a police official said.

“We found a suicide note in which Deshmukh mentioned that he is taking this extreme step in support of Maratha reservation demand,” Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) G Shridhar told PTI.

This is the fifth suicide in the state over Maratha reservation issue.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described as lamentable the incidents of violence and alleged suicides for the quota demand reported during the ongoing agitation by Maratha organisations.

“If sentiments are aroused, there will be unrest in the community. The legal process needs to be completed and our government will do that in a time-bound manner,” he added.

The BJP-led government in the state enacted a law to provide reservation in jobs and education to the community within a year of coming to power, Fadnavis noted.

“But the High Court stayed the decision and the Supreme Court upheld the high court order. There is a 1992 Supreme Court judgement that reservations should not exceed 50 per cent. To increase them (beyond 50 per cent) there should be extraordinary circumstances and these (circumstances) must be put forth through the State Backward Class Commission (before the court),” Fadnavis pointed out.

His government formed the commission and the process of surveys and public hearings had started, he said. “But the commission chairman passed away. Now new chairman has been appointed and the process has restarted.

After its report is submitted, we will call an assembly session to take the reservation demand to its logical conclusion,” he said. A 38-year-old man allegedly committed suicide on 29 July in the Nanded district over the Maratha quota demand, police said.

Kacharu Kalyane hanged himself from the ceiling at his home in Dhabad village of Nanded district when his family members were out for some work. His suicide note mentioned that he was ending his life over the Maratha community’s demand for reservation, a police official said.

A 35-year-old man had allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train in Aurangabad on 29 July over the Maratha quota demand, police said. Last week, two men in Aurangabad district committed suicide over demand for the quota, while another protester, injured in the Maratha stir violence in Navi Mumbai, died at a Mumbai hospital on 26 July.

Eight protesters attempted self-immolation by pouring kerosene in support of Maratha reservation in Latur district, also in Marathwada region, police said.

In the self-immolation attempt, held outside the tehsildar office at Ausa in Latur district, eight protesters poured kerosene on themselves and attempted suicide but police intervened before they could do so, Latur SP Shivaji Rathod said.

The protesters were taken into custody. “After convincing them to take up their demands with the government, we allowed them to go,” he added. In Mumbai on Wednesday, Maratha community members will hold a protest against the BJP-led state government’s “failure” to withdraw criminal cases against the protesters.

Maratha community members will hold a jail bharo protest in Mumbai on Wednesday, Sakal Maratha Morcha leader Praveen Patil said. “The state government, despite its assurance of withdrawing criminal charges of vandalism and damaging public property against some protesters, has not taken any action and that is why we are holding the protest Mumbai tomorrow,” Patil said.

He also sought an apology from Fadnavis, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and BJP MLA Ram Kadam for “defaming” Maratha quota agitation and its leaders.

Fadnavis said that people need to understand that to ensure that reservations stand legal scrutiny, the 1992 Supreme Court judgement must be followed.

“We have to give reservations to the Marathas without tampering with the SC-ST-OBC quota,” he added. “We are being asked to issue an ordinance. It can be done, but it will not stand (scrutiny) in the court. Do we want to fool people or grant reservations genuinely?” he asked.

The politically influential Maratha community, constituting around 30 percent of the state’s population, has been agitating to press its demand for reservation in jobs and education. The community had earlier taken out silent marches across the state to highlight their demands, prominently for reservation.

However, their latest round of agitation has taken a violent turn. Protesters indulged in violence and arson at separate places in Maharashtra on Monday.

Four police officials were injured in stone pelting, and around 70 vehicles, including state-run buses and police vans, were damaged or torched during the violence in Chakan near Pune on Monday.

Amid the continuing agitation, the Opposition Congress and the NCP on Monday approached state Governor Vidyasagar Rao, requesting him to direct the Devendra Fadnavis government to announce a decision on the reservation issue immediately.

Maratha outfits have announced that a mega rally will be held in Mumbai on 9 August in support of their quota demand.