Maratha community members hold 'rasta roko' to show solidarity with Jarange over quota issue

Pune: Members of some Maratha organisations staged a road blockade on the Pune-Solapur highway near here on Friday to express solidarity with activist Manoj Jarange, who has been on an indefinite fast since February 10 to press for the demand for quota to the community, police said.

The protest was held near Yavat, they said.

"The members of various Maratha outfits staged a 'rasta roko' protest on Pune-Solapur road in the afternoon. But the highway has been cleared now and the traffic movement has been restored, " Inspector Narayan Deshmukh of Yavat police station said.

Mayur Dorge, a member of the Maratha organisation 'Sakal Maratha Samaj', said that even as Jarange's hunger strike has entered the seventh day, the government is indifferent towards his demands.

"To condemn the state government's attitude and to support Jarange, we staged a rasta roko protest for 45 minutes," he said.

A protest was also held by some Maratha organisations near Kiwale Road in the Pimpri Chinchwad area near Pune city to support Jarange.

Jarange has been on a hunger strike at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Maharashtra's Jalna district.

This is the fourth time in less than a year that Jarange has been observing a hunger strike demanding the inclusion of the Maratha community into the Other Backward Classes (OBC) grouping.

A special session of the Maharashtra legislature is scheduled to be held on February 20 to discuss reservations and other demands of the Maratha community.