Veering out of control
Two more youths commit suicide; protesters damage BJP MP’s vehicle; Maratha Parishad warns agitation could turn violent, if demands not met
Unrest over the Maratha quota issue persisted on Sunday with two more youths allegedly committing suicide.
On the other hand, the ‘Maratha Parishad’, convened in Pune, warned the Devendra Fadnavis government that the agitation could veer out of control.
In Mumbai, the Sakal Maratha Samaj warned the government that it won’t allow the state to conduct the winter session in November if the quota issue was not sorted out by then. In Dhule, an irate mob of reservation activists blocked the convoy of Dr Heena Gavit, BJP MP from Nandurbar, and damaged her car.
In an act of self-immolation, Anant Levde Patil (23), from Parbhani’s Sailu tehsil, doused himself in kerosene and set himself ablaze in a field after uploading a Facebook post addressed to Chief Minister Fadnavis, said police sources.
“Respected Mr. Fadnavis, I am giving up my life on the Maratha reservation issue. I am happy to sacrifice my life for the welfare of the backward Maratha community,” reads Patil’s post. In the second case, a 26-year-old youth, identified as Vinayak Parashuram Gudgi, ended his life by hanging himself at his home in Kolhapur city. Maratha agitators claimed that Gudgi had taken part in demonstrations held by the ‘Sakal Maratha Samaj’ in Kolhapur.
While originally hailing from Belagavi district in neighbouring Karnataka,
he had shifted base to Kolhapur in search of better employment. However, lack of opportunities had disheartened him and apparently forced him to take the extreme step, said sources.
With these two deaths, the number of suicides attributed to the reservation issue has risen to nine.
There was palpable tension in Kolhapur city after members of the Sakal Maratha Samaj demonstrated at Dasara chowk. The sit-in was supported by former Maharashtra CM and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan. “The Maratha quota question is a burning issue. This BJP government is not being honest. If it cannot fulfil its promises, it ought to apologize to the public,” Chavan said.
A meeting of more than a hundred coordinators of the ‘Maratha Kranti Morcha’ in Pune warned the state government that the agitation could take a turn for the worse if they didn’t grant reservation immediately to the community.
“For the last 30 years, endless committees formed by various State governments have been debating the Maratha reservation question. All governments have been equally responsible for dragging their feet on this question. The present government ought to either grant reservation without delay or stop misleading the people,” said Maratha leader and Nationalist Congress Party MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale, who presided over the ‘Maratha Parishad’ held in Pune.
Bhosale, a direct descendant of the Maratha warrior-king Shivaji, remarked he did not understand the administrative delay on the matter while asserting that the State government was directly responsible for the spate of suicides.
“The youths who are taking their lives are utterly disillusioned. It is a misconception that a majority of the Maratha community is economically strong and upwardly mobile. More than 80 percent farmers in the State are from the Maratha community and are living on the social margins,” he said.
He further warned all elected representatives in both the ruling and opposition parties to act swiftly in resolving the matter or face the “legitimate ire” of the Maratha community.
In Dhule, agitators jumped on the car of MP Gavit and smashed the front window forcing the police to carry out a mild lathi-charge. More than 30 activists were detained by the police. Dr Heena, daughter of BJP legislator Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit, had come to the collector’s office to attend a District Planning Committee meeting. Agitators shouted slogans against Dada Bhuse, the guardian minister of Dhule.