Will not back down on Maratha quota demand, says Jarange; appeals for continuance of peaceful agitation

Pune: Activist Manoj Jarange said on Friday that he will not "step back an inch" until the Marathas got reservation, and demanded that all Marathas in Maharashtra should be given the Kunbi certificate so that they can get the benefit of quota under the OBC category.

Speaking at a huge rally at Rajgurunagar in Pune district, Jarange also appealed to the community members not to resort to violence or any extreme step like suicide. He will explain the further course of action for the agitation on Sunday, he said.

"Yesterday, one of our brothers, Sunil Kawale, ended his life while seeking quota (in Mumbai). In the last more than a month, 15 to 16 people from the community have ended their lives. In the past, 47 people from the community ended their lives. As a community, we will not allow their sacrifices to go to waste," he said.

Had the government agreed to give quota to the Marathas earlier, these deaths could have been avoided, Jarange said.

"We started this agitation on August 29. The fight is going on even today. One of our brothers opined that there should be "thoka thoki" (violent agitation) now...but because of our peaceful approach, the issue has reached the stage of decision-making process. Now no one has the courage to stop this agitation. I have given my word to everyone that reservation will be obtained in a peaceful manner, and I will not step back an inch until the community gets reservation," he added.

Marathas across the state should be given Kunbi certificates, he demanded. The Kunbi community enjoys reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.

Earlier, Jarange had given the state government time till October 24 when he ended his hunger strike on the issue and said he would speak on October 22 about the further course of action. He reiterated the plan at the rally on Friday.

Following his hunger strike, the government had agreed to give Kunbi certificates to eligible Marathas in the central Maharashtra's Marathwada region.

Jarange asked community members to go from door to door in every village and explain why all Marathas needed to come together on the issue.

"No one shall think of committing suicide and no one shall get provoked and resort to violence....This peaceful agitation will get the Maratha community reservation," he said.