Mumbai The fire of Maratha reservation in Maharashtra may flare up from tomorrow. The agitators have given the deadline till today to the Eknath Shinde government to demand reservation for the Maratha community. If Shinde government does not take a decision till night, this movement may intensify from tomorrow. Manoj Jarange is leading the people demanding Maratha movement. He had said that if his demand is not accepted, he will start the hunger strike once again from October 25 and this time either he will get reservation or his funeral procession will take place. First let us tell you who Manoj Jarange is. Manoj Jarange is 40 years old. He has been loudly raising the demand for Maratha reservation since 2014. Their demand remained very strong in Jalna district. Violence also broke out in many places in Maharashtra due to the demand for Maratha reservation. Manoj Jarange is basically a Patil. He is a resident of Beed. Used to work in a hotel. After being in Congress, he separated and formed Shivba organization.
When Manoj Jarange gave a deadline for Maratha reservation by talking about the funeral procession, the next day on October 19, the body of an activist Sunil Kawle was found hanging from an electric pole in Bandra, Mumbai. Sunil had demanded Maratha reservation in his suicide note. Jarange, who was demanding Maratha reservation, demanded reservation from OBC quota by giving Kunbi caste certificate. CM Eknath Shinde had also met him and assured him to fulfill his demand for reservation. After which Manoj Jarange ended his fast on 14 September. Manoj Jarange’s Shivba organization is demanding reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education. The Maratha reservation movement was going on since 1st September. Reservation supporters say that during the Nizam’s rule till 1948, they were considered Kunbi. Then they want Kunbi caste certificate and are also demanding to be given OBC status.
The Maratha community is very powerful in Maharashtra. Till now there have been 12 CMs from Maratha community. Eknath Shinde also belongs to Maratha community. Maratha community constitutes about 33 percent of the population in Maharashtra. To give reservation to the Maratha community, in the year 2014, the then CM Prithviraj Chavan had decided to give 16 percent reservation to Maratha after the report of Narayan Rane Commission. There was a massive movement against this. Then the Bombay High Court increased this reservation to 13 percent in government jobs and 12 percent in education. After this, the Supreme Court canceled the Maratha reservation in 2021. After which now again a large scale movement is taking place.