Jarange Patil Begins Indefinite Hunger Strike, Revives Maratha Reservation Demand
Manoj Jarange Patil, a prominent Maratha community leader, commenced an indefinite hunger strike on Saturday at Antarwali Sarati in Maharashtra's Jalna district, reigniting the movement for reservation for the Maratha community. The protest site drew supporters from across the Marathwada region.
Addressing the gathering, Jarange Patil urged the state government to act without delay. "The government should not delay action by saying 'we will do it later'. Caste certificates and validity documents must be issued immediately based on the 58 lakh Kunbi records," he said. He asserted that no additional time would be given to the government, describing the agitation as the "final battle" for reservation.
He specifically demanded expediting the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Maratha families in Marathwada, citing the Hyderabad Gazetteer as a basis. He also called for the implementation of government resolutions related to the Aundh-Pune, Bombay Government, and Satara Gazetteers. "The government should not plot to reduce the 58 lakh records found by the Shinde committee or discard this record. Certificates must be issued urgently on the basis of all those records," he added.
Jarange Patil warned that if the demands were not accepted at Antarwali Sarati, the protest would shift to Mumbai. "We will go to Varsha Bungalow or Azad Maidan," he said, appealing to Mumbai residents to support the movement.
The community leader also raised a new demand to abolish caste scrutiny committees in Maharashtra. "Caste scrutiny committees do not exist in other states. Why has this mechanism been kept only in Maharashtra? This information was given to me by Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil himself," he claimed. He proposed simplifying the process at the tehsildar level instead.
Other demands included the withdrawal of all police cases against Maratha protestors, government jobs and financial assistance for families of those who died during the reservation movement, and the immediate release of pending interest refund amounts from the Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Economic Backwards Development Corporation.
Jarange Patil also issued a warning to local elected representatives, stating that any leader from villages or local self-government institutions who does not participate in the agitation would be held accountable in the next elections. He mentioned that senior leaders from BJP and Shiv Sena had called him, suggesting that the agitation's opponents would soon become clear.
The Jalna district police served a notice to Jarange Patil under Section 168 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on the first day of the fast, imposing conditions to ensure law and order at the protest site.
The Maratha community has been demanding reservation in education and government jobs for years. Previous mass protests in 2023 and 2024 led to some government measures, but the issue remains unresolved. This hunger strike marks another phase of the ongoing movement, with the community pressing for concrete action on administrative and legal fronts.
