Maratha quota stir set to intensify from June 16
MUMBAI: The agitation for restoring the Maratha quota scrapped by the Supreme Court (SC) in May is likely to intensify in the coming days as several groups and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati have begun mobilising the community. The agitation is set to begin on June 16. On Saturday, Sambhajiraje visited Kopardi village in Ahmednagar where a minor girl from the community was raped and brutally murdered in 2016, triggering a large-scale agitation for justice for the victim, along with their old demand of reservation. Sambhajiraje has demanded formation of a special bench of the Bombay high court (HC) to complete the hearing in six months in order to provide justice to the affected family. He then visited the residence of Kakasaheb Shinde, a 28-year old Maratha youth in Aurangabad district, who died by suicide by jumping into the Godavari river in July 2018. He was the first youth who died by suicide demanding reservation, after which a few more youths ended their lives for the demand.
Sambhajiraje, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, has taken the lead for providing reservation to the community after the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act 2018, which was enacted by the state, was quashed by the SC on May 5.
“As decided, we will start our agitations from June 16. We will be holding silent protests across 36 districts, which will start from Kolhapur,” Sambhajiraje said. The BJP MP had given an ultimatum till June 6 to the state for taking decisions on the demands put forth by him. The include review and curative petitions in the SC against its order to scrap the quota, as well as a petition to the Centre for the reservation. Besides, he also had demanded other benefits such as hostel facilities and scholarships for the community’s students and revival of Sarthi — a Pune-based institute — to ensure the educational and social well-being of Maratha youth.
On May 5, the SC quashed the 12% and 13% reservation given in education and jobs to the Maratha community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018. The state then appointed a committee of retired HC judge Dilip Bhosale to study the ruling and suggest a way forward. In its report, the committee has recommended the government to move a review petition in the SC challenging its verdict.