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How rape of a Maratha girl has flamed caste agitations in Maharashtra

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Sahil Joshi
Sahil JoshiSep 04, 2016 | 14:32

How rape of a Maratha girl has flamed caste agitations in Maharashtra

After the Patel agitation in Gujarat, it seems that even Maharashtra has taken cue from that. There were widespread agitations by the politically strong Patels across Gujarat demanding reservation, which became a matter of worry for the ruling BJP government.

It's a rule in Gujarat politics that you can't agitate the Patel community which makes up 24 per cent of the population. Similarly in Maharashtra you can't do politics and ignore Marathas who comprise nearly 32 per cent of the state's population. Tension is brewing within the Maratha community since the last few years on the issue of reservation. And looking at pure politics no party from Maharashtra has opposed it.

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During the Congress-NCP government a committee was formed under the then revenue minister Narayan Rane to submit a report regarding the reservation policy of the Marathas. The Rane committee recommended 16 per cent reservation for the community in government jobs and education institutions and the Maharashtra Assembly with overwhelming support from all the parties passed it.

The Marathas are a strong political community and their demands were met as no party wanted to cross them. The problem started when the provision for Maratha reservation couldn't stand in court of law and respective governments (Congress, NCP and BJP) is yet to come up with solution.

This has angered the community and tension was brewing in various WhatsApp and social media groups and the educated Maratha youth have been expressing their anger over this.

pawar-embed_090416022525.jpg
A leader like Sharad Pawar had also paid for antagonising the Marathas (PTI). 

Rape and murder of a Maratha girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi district has added fuel to this anger and became reason for the flaring up of Maratha agitation. Their complaint was that these Dalit youth were a nuisance and whenever anyone tried to file a complaint against them to the police they used to threaten to use atrocity charges against the complainant.

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So now the main demand of the Marathas is to curtail acts of atrocity in Maharashtra which they think is been used as a tool for blackmailing. Huge marches are being carried across Maharashtra under the banner of Maratha Kranti Morcha.

The accused who have been arrested by the police are Dalits. It has been said that the Marathas across party line are supporting these agitations but unlike the Patel agitation in Gujarat, these agitations have no particular leader.

But Sharad Pawar and the Congress have definitely smelled an opportunity here as they think that this anger can be turned against the ruling BJP. The Marathas are politically strong not only because as a community they have the highest numbers but also because their voting can change the course of election results, especially in western Maharashtra, Marathwada and north Maharashtra. Who knows this better than Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar and by and large he has managed to keep the caste with him.

He has seen in the past that if you go against the Marathas you pay political price. During his tenure as chief minister when Pawar added BR Ambedkar's name to the Marthwada University and made it Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, against the wishes of the Marathas and gave in to the long-standing demand of Dalits and neo-Buddhists, he lost his clout in the Marathwada region.

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Eventually, the Marathas in Marathwada drifted towards the Shiv Sena giving a strong footing for the Sena which had opposed the decision. In the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, even the BJP managed to make their way into western Maharashtra and even Marathwada with Maratha votes. It was alarming for Pawar and the Congress. So senior leaders, including Pawar, have been visiting these recent Maratha agitations organised in various districts of Marathwada and western Maharashtra.

Pawar though denied any NCP leader being involved in organising these marches, terming them non-political marches but he surely has shared many of the feelings raised during these agitations and most important being the atrocity act being misused.

Pawar, who despite being a Maratha strongman has always been looked at as a progressive and bahujan leader in Maharashtra, supports the demands of the Maratha Kranti Manch, which surely has raised many eyebrows. Pawar's posturing on this issue certainly shows that like the Patel agitation in Gujarat, the Maratha agitation in Maharashtra is being looked at as a gamechanger in politics.

The only saving grace right now for the establishsed parties in Maharashtra is that there is no Hardik Patel for the Marathas and the marchs are being organised by a group of doctors, lawyers or businessmen. Many have openly taken pride in organising massive marches in Marathwada without turning violent like the Jat agitation in Harayana and Patel agitation in Gujarat.

And even though the immediate reason for marches can be traced to the Kopardi rape and murder case, the real reasons are demands for reservation in education and government jobs. Even if this may turn the politics of Maharashtra, the solution for reservations for the Marathas especially after it was shot down by the Supreme Court is far from sight for any government or party.

Last updated: September 04, 2016 | 18:52
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