Maratha stir: Mumbai avoids chaos, but state still tense
India’s commercial capital escaped the statewide protest on Wednesday called by the Maratha community in Maharashtra, suffering only minimal disruptions, getting off more lightly than some of its suburbs, and other parts of the state that saw sporadic violence.
The protest was called off in Mumbai by mid-afternoon, although it continued elsewhere.
Late-evening violence in Navi Mumbai resulted in a lathicharge and the police firing teargas shells, after protesters set fire to a police outpost and a few vehicles in the Kopar Khairane area.
The agitators also attacked local residents and the police.
In Mumbai, suburban trains ran normally on all corridors except the Thane line, where there was a disruption for over four hours, and the Government Railway Police control room said there was no disruption anywhere in the city.
Hanumant Gophane, spokesperson of BEST undertaking, which runs the city’s public bus service , said all BEST services were normal. A bus was torched in the central suburb of Mankhurd. Taxis, autorickshaws, and taxi app aggregators ran services as usual. The Maratha community has been demanding reservations in education institutions and government jobs for over a decade.
Since August 2016, there demands have included implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission of Farmers and punishment to those involved in the rape and murder case of a minor girl in Kopardi village in July 2016.