CASTE CAULDRON SET TO BOIL IN MAHA
BREWING TENSION The Maratha-Dalit confrontation, triggered by the gangrape and murder of a minor girl, could realign political forces in the state
The politically and socially dominant Marathas of Maharashtra are angry and the immediate trigger of their fury is the brutal rape-murder of a teenage girl in Kopardi. They are venting their anger in massive rallies.
The politically and socially dominant Marathas of Maharashtra are angry and the immediate trigger of their fury is the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl in Ahmednagar’s Kopardi on July 13.
Members of the community are venting their anger in massive rallies, with businessmen, lawyers, young job-seekers, and much about everybody other than the political parties forming the core of the well-organised public protests.
The three rape and murder suspects, who belong to the Dalit community, are awaiting trial. The Marathas want the guilty be sent to the gallows.
The rallies are viewed as more than a concerted fight for justice for the 14-year-old girl. The rape has become a rallying point for Marathas to restore their pride which, they feel, is eroding due to a shriveled farm output and diminishing political influence after the state’s first-ever BJP-led government came to power in October 2014.
Known historically as a warrior tribe, Marathas constitute one-third of the state’s population and are essentially farmers producing India’s leading cash crops: sugarcane, pulses, peanuts, onions and potatoes, to name a few. They control the cooperative sector, the backbone of the state’s rural economy, and 11 of the 18 chief ministers in the state hail from the Maratha community.
“Marathas feel they are losing their honour and pride that they once treasured to maintain their primacy in society,” said Prakash Pawar, a professor of political science at Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
Another political science professor, Chitra Lele of SNDT University, rationalised that the Maratha mobilisation had to happen sooner or later because of the community’s growing anger and unease over its waning political and economic control in the countryside.
“Marathas are mostly dependent on agriculture and farm-related business, but failed to overcome the challenges of free market economics. The next generation, mostly settled in big cities, has failed to reconcile to the new social order in which other castes have raced ahead, thanks to reservation,” Lele said.
That perhaps explains the undercurrent of the nine rallies so far in Marathwada or central Maharashtra.
Called Maratha Kranti Morcha, the rallies have gained support and popularity through social media and a meticulous campaign. Encouraged, the organisers have now planned at least nine more rallies in other regions and finally a massive show of strength in Mumbai in mid-October.
Young Maratha men and women — qualified and in search of jobs — have been visiting places to plan the rallies. Among the organisers is 22-year-old lawyer Swati Nakhate of Aurangabad.She said people are willingly coming to the rallies as they feel insecure in the current socio-political environment, but denied any political support to the campaign.
The ruling BJP and Shiv Sena think otherwise. Their leaders suspect the Opposition, especially the Sharad Pawarled Nationalist Congress Party, is fueling the fire. Maratha leaders dominate Pawar’s party and he is openly sympathising with the protesters. The Maratha Seva Sangh and Sambhaji Brigade, considered close to the NCP, are backing the rallies.
“Political forces are not coming forward at the moment. Once the polarisation process reaches a particular point, they will try and turn it in their favour,” professor Prakash Pawar said.
The rallies are unique in the sense that lawyers and businessmen lead these, not any politician. These are planned and staged with utmost discipline. Every speaker reaffirms the demands: hang the rapists; scrap the law (prevention of atrocities against scheduled castes and tribes act) that guarantees certain immunity to Dalits; and grant reservation to Marathas in government jobs and education. But Dalits argue that the law can protect the community in villages dominated by Marathas.
Maharashtra can be broadly divided into four demographic groups — Marathas, the other backward class (OBC), the backward classes such as scheduled caste Dalits and a small number of scheduled tribe people, and upper castes. The OBCs as well as SCs and STs have benefitted over the years from the government’s reservation policy, putting them near the dominant Marathas, if not making them equal.
Ahead of the 2014 assembly polls, the Congress-NCP government had decided to give 16% reservation to Marathas — a sop to counterbalance the voter swing towards BJP’s Narendra Modi.
The Bombay High Court struck down the offer, later. Maratha groups accuse the present BJP-Sena government of doing little to stop the court from cancelling their reservation. The growing discontent could put the BJP-Sena alliance in a fix during civic polls, due in a few months. If the ruling parties lose, it would indicate a turning tide in the state.
Political forces are not coming forward at the moment. Once the polarisation process reaches a particular point, they will try and turn it in their favour. PRAKASH PAWAR, political science professor