Maratha groups call off stir after violence
MUMBAI : The bandh in Maharashtra called by pro-quota maratha groups was on Wednesday marked by violence and arson even as one more protester died, a day after consuming poison. In the wake of violence, the bandh in Mumbai was called off midway, despite which some areas continued to witness incidents like stone pelting till late evening.
MUMBAI: 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.
One 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. Only some groups within the Maratha community – itself a group of various clans across the state of Maharashtra – are classified as “backward” and receive state benefits. A large majority of the Maratha community is outside the purview of any quota. The community has undertaken 58 silent marches across Maharashtra since September 2016.
In the current wave of protests, two men committed suicide in Aurangabad, with the second death in the early hours of Wednesday. While Mumbai remained more or less peaceful on Wednesday, barring a few incidents of road-blocking or disruption of railway traffic, protesters said the incidents of violence in Thane and Navi Mumbai “were a conspiracy against the organisation.”
“We suspect the violent activity is a political conspiracy against us to derail the issue. In the last two years, we have held 58 silent marches and now we notice the violence,” said Virendra Pawar, member, coordination committee, Maratha Kranti Morcha, the umbrella body of the protesters.
After the protests were withdrawn, CM Devendra Fadnavis said the government was ready to hold talks.
“The state government is willing to redress any concerns or shortcomings in the schemes announced by the government for the community. Even on the issue of mega recruitment, it is possible to address the concern raised by the community through consensus,” Fadnavis said.
Until Wednesday, the state police registered 129 cases pertaining to violence, arson, stonepelting, causing hurt to policemen, rioting and damaging public property. On Wednesday, the most affected areas in the state were Navi Mumbai, Solapur, Thane, Pune rural, Palghar, Raigad, and Satara.