Maharashtra tense as govt faces heat over lathicharge on Maratha quota activists

Tension prevailed in the central Maharashtra region on Saturday (September 2) as a bandh (shutdown) was organised by the Maratha outfits in protest against lathicharge on activists demanding reservation for the Maratha community, while the state government came under intense attack from the Opposition parties over the police action on protesters.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar also met Maratha quota agitators injured in police action a day earlier in Ambad tehsil in Jalna and sought removal of the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations. He also said the issues of “caste census” as well as the removal of quota cap were discussed in the meeting of the INDIA alliance that took place in Mumbai on Thursday and Friday.

Pawar said agitators told him “a call from the higher-ups” changed the attitude of the police at the protest site in Antarwali Sarathi on Dhule-Solapur road and action was taken despite the stir being peaceful. He blamed the state home department for Friday’s incident and termed the police action as “inhuman”. “The present government should learn how administration works,” he added.

Thackeray bats for quota

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the Centre should provide reservations to Marathas and OBCs in the special session of Parliament convened later this month.

Addressing Shiv Sena (UBT) workers in Mumbai, Thackeray slammed the “government brutality” of police baton charging the protestors seeking reservation for Marathas in Jalna on Friday evening. “How can police behave in a way without the directions from someone,” he asked. He hit out at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, saying no one from the government had time to meet the agitators in Jalna.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole alleged police lathicharged protestors in Jalna seeking Maratha reservation on the orders of the state government to divert the attention from the INDIA bloc meeting.

Talking to reporters, Patole claimed even women and children were not spared, causing injuries to many. “The police cannot dare to do so without the order from the government,” said the Congress leader. Patole said when Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in the Opposition, he had claimed the issue of reservation would be addressed in 24 hours, but it has been more than a year since the Sena-BJP government is in power.

Protest against police action

Meanwhile, a bandh call has been given in Jalna, Nandurbar, Beed, Osmanabad, Hingoli, Parbhani and Latur districts to condemn the police brutality. Along with these districts, protests were also held in Thane, Solapur, Nagpur and Yavatmal. The coordinators from the Sakal Maratha Samaj, the umbrella organisation of the community, are going to hold meetings in Mumbai, Nashik and Kolhapur to decide their next course of action, said the people familiar with the matter.

On Friday, police had resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob that allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike to the hospital.

Around 40 policemen and several protesters were injured and many buses set on fire during the violence that erupted here. More than 350 persons have been booked for alleged involvement in the untoward incidents.

(With agency inputs)