'Won With Your Strength': Maratha Quota Leader Holds Talks with Ministers, Declares Victory

In a possible break through in the Maratha quota agitation, the Maharashtra government has acceded to the key demand of Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil to implement the Hyderabad Gazette that identifies Marathas as belonging to the Kunbi peasant community.

The government has also agreed to withdraw all the cases lodged against those who demonstrated to seek reservation. Following a discussion with a cabinet sub-committee, Mr. Patil stated that his supporters would vacate Mumbai by 9 pm once the government issues a formal resolution.

Mr. Patil has been on a hunger strike at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, advocating for reservation in jobs and education for Marathas from the Marathwada and western Maharashtra regions. The government has emphasized that it is taking proactive steps to address the issue of reservation.

The cabinet sub-committee earlier today met Mr. Patil at Azad Maidan. Ministers Manikrao Kokate, Shivendra Raje Bhosale, and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil attended the meeting, the first direct one with the leader of the Maratha quota agitation by the state government.

Mr. Patil said that the cabinet sub-committee had decided to implement the Hyderabad Gazette as a measure towards meeting the demand for Maratha reservation. He has held out for the Gazette because he sees it as conclusive proof that Marathas in the Marathwada region were formally documented as Kunbis, a peasant caste. The document permits him to present the reservation as a rebirth of historical identity and not a political gesture. In Maharashtra, the Kunbi community already has reservation under the OBC category. The Hyderabad Gazette is particularly pertinent as the Marathwada area of current Maharashtra was once within the Hyderabad State.

Speaking to his party workers after the meeting, Mr. Patil remarked, "We won with your strength, today I understood the power of the poor."

Condemning Mr. Patil, meanwhile, the Bombay High Court said thousands of his supporters brought about normal life to a halt in the areas around Azad Maidan, where his followers continue to protest for OBC quota-based employment and education reservations.

Earlier, Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Aarti Sathe's bench had threatened Mr. Patil's lawyer that if normalcy was not established by 3 pm, the judges themselves would venture out into the streets. The court also threatened the Maratha leader of exemplary cost and potential contempt proceedings if its directives were not followed. By 3 pm, protesters were observed marching towards Navi Mumbai.

Mr. Patil had come to the High Court following a denial by Mumbai Police of his appeal to carry on the agitation at Azad Maidan. He went on a hunger strike from August 29.

Appearing for Mr. Patil, his lawyer Satish Manshinde Patil apologized for the inconvenience caused by the protests. The bench demanded that particulars of all vehicles used in the agitation be submitted and was not pleased with the state government's response.

The bench asked Mr. Patil why there were so many in the protests since permission had been given for a gathering of only 5,000. "When you realized that more than 60,000 people had entered the city, what did you do?" the bench posed, announcing that it would also call for questioning the state government.

The court directed the leader of the quota agitation to clear out Azad Maidan by 3 pm and threatened action if this was not implemented. When his legal representative asked for more time, the court suggested it would think about contempt proceedings. Seeing concern in the public, the court stated, "We want the city to go back to normal. If it doesn't happen, we will go and see."

The court also said Mr Patil and his supporters are "violators" and "have no right at all". "They must leave immediately or we will take action. This is completely illegal. After 3 pm, we will not allow anyone there at Azad Maidan," the bench said. Pulling up the state government, the court said the situation should not have reached this point.