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Native name | मराठा क्रांती मोर्चा |
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Location | Worldwide |
Also known as | मराठा क्रांती (मूक) मोर्चा |
Organised by | Maratha Community |
The Maratha Kranti Morcha, loosely translated as "Maratha revolutionary demonstration" in the Marathi language, was a series of silent and pragmatic protests organized by the Maratha community in various cities across India, and in overseas diaspora communities. Other groups, such as Muslims and other religious minorities, also supported the Morcha. [1] The impetus for the rallies was the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village, Maharashtra, on 13 July 2016. [2] The protesters demanded the death sentence for the rapists. The Maratha caste dominate the power and cultural structure in Maharashtra due to the size of their population. [3]
The rallies featured no leaders and no slogans. Millions of people from across Maharashtra came together to protest, and initially no harm was done to any public or private property until January 2017, when a few instances of violence were noted. [4]
The demand for reservations in educational positions and government jobs were also a part of these protests. At the time, the Bombay High Court had recently upheld the reservations granted to the Maratha community, but also mentioned that the percentage of quotas given wasn't justifiable. [5] Later, the Supreme Court quashed the Maratha community reservations. [6] A large percentage of Marathis are farmers, and the community had been severely affected by droughts and degraded arable land. Due to the lack of reservations, unemployment had become a major problem in the Maratha community. Some castes within the Maratha community, known as Kunbi, did receive the benefits of reservations provided to the Other Backward Class category; however, most people were alleged to have lost their benefits.
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The Maratha Kranti Morcha carried out its largest silent protest in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, on 9 August 2017. Around half a million members of the Maratha community from across the state gathered in Mumbai. The protest started from Jijamata Zoo Byculla and culminated at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Schools, junior colleges, and about 450 institutes in South Mumbai remained shut. Mumbai's famed Dabbawalas took the day off to participate in the morcha. [41]
During the silent protest, leaders from the Maratha community also warned that they would switch to violent tactics after two weeks if state authorities did not act on their demands. [42]
Manoj Jarange-Patil, a Maratha quota activist, has been a prominent figure in the Maratha Community's fight for reservation in Maharashtra. He is leading multiple agitations and protests, including dharna and hunger strikes. [43]
Road blockades (chakka jams) were held on 31 January 2017 to gather momentum and mount pressure on the state government before the community’s silent rally scheduled in Mumbai on 6 March 2017.
31 January 2017 – Mumbai [44] and across Maharashtra [45]
On 23 July 2018, a Maratha Kranti Morcha activist committed suicide; the protesters refuse to collect the body and demanded the resignation of Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Kakasaheb Shinde-Patil, aged 28 committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari River during agitations at the village of Kaygaon Toka in the Gangapur taluka of Aurangabad District. The protesters blamed the district administration for not deploying boats and lifeguards despite being forewarned about the agitations. [48]
On 24 July 2018, protests turned violent; protesters attacked police officers and torched buses, police vehicles, and private cars. [49]
25 July 2018 – Mumbai, [50] Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Thane, Kalyan, Palghar, Raigad
Maratha groups announced a shutdown across Maharashtra on August Kranti Day 2018 to intensify agitation for reservations. August Kranti Day is celebrated annually on 9 August. The Marathas launched a non-cooperation movement against the Government of Maharashtra and the Government of India. The non-cooperation movement covers non-payment of taxes to government and local bodies until reservations are implemented. [66] [67]
After continuously growing protests in each city and millions of people's participation in each Maratha Kranti Morcha, on 13 October 2016 the Government of Maharashtra took the decisions to: [68] and
As the Bombay high court had stayed the 16% reservation granted to Marathas in government jobs and educational positions on the grounds that the data used by the government was faulty, the Government of Maharashtra on 5 December 2016 filed a 2,800-page affidavit to justify the reservations for Marathas as legal and show that it did not violate constitutional provisions. The affidavit contained documents substantiating the claim that the community is socially and educationally backward. [69]
The threat to the BJP’s hegemony is dire, as caste assertion threatens to break through the Hindutva patina. [70]
The impact of the Maratha agitation is such that two MPs from Shinde’s Shiv Sena – Hemant Patil and Hemant Godse – announced their resignation from the Lok Sabha in support of the protesters and their demand. BJP MPs openly extended his support to the Maratha community. [71] [72] [73]
Shiv Sena is a right-wing Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray. Currently led by Eknath Shinde, this party is the ruling party of the Indian state of Maharashtra since 2019. Shiv Sena's election symbol is the Bow and Arrow. It uses the saffron colour in its flag and a image of a roaring tiger.
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