Torching the houses of the ministers, damaging hundreds of buses, pelting stones on the houses of MLAs and MPs, creating blockades by setting tyres of vehicles ablaze, rail roko, ban on gatherings…such violence is the current scene in Maharashtra. One would wonder if the law and order of such an enormous state is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Central Home Minister Amit Shah has taken stock of the situation over a phone call with his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis as the Maratha quota agitation has turned fearfully violent. The situation is on the verge of going out of hand or perhaps, it already has. People are now demanding the resignations from Chief Minister as well as Home Minister while Maratha MLAs from the opposition party have demanded from the governor to call a special assembly session.
The health condition of Jalna-based activist Manoj Jarange who is spearheading the agitation for Marathas to get Kunbi caste certificate, has weakened as he entered the seventh day of his hunger strike. Jarange has appealed for peace and has claimed that people spreading violence are not part of the agitation but hooligans sponsored by the government. Now, one cannot tell how much truth is there to what Jarange has said but the tremendous response for his meetings he took over the span of 40 days before sitting on the strike has totally changed the course for Maratha quota agitation. It is clear however that an average person like Jarange without any political backing becoming the new leader of Marathas has not gone down well with many established leaders.
It is indeed scary in a State where 58 morchas organised for Maratha quota previously are carried out without any violence and now the violent agitation has spread like a wildfire in most of the villages. How did the agitation turn violent all of a sudden? Is it anyway related to the changed dynamics of political scenarios? Is the agitation intending to put Eknath Shinde’s post of chief minister in danger? The reason to ponder over this is the incredible support Jarange has received from crores of Marathas. On the other hand, if Marathas receive Kunbi certificates then that would mean they would be recognised as OBCs. OBC associations have threatened to launch even bigger protests if Marathas are given the certificate. CM Ekanth Shinde finds himself in a major quandary as he visited the governor two days ago. Deputy chief minister Fadnavis too, met with the governor after Shinde.
In the backdrop of all this, the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday decided to grant Kunbi certificates to those who are registered as Kunbis. On the other hand, it was also resolved to send empirical data to the National Commission for Backward Classes to give permanent reservation to Marathas. Thus, it once again proves that solving this problem immediately is going to be a huge task for the government and naturally intensifies political pressure on Shinde.
To add more to the misery of the government, the Supreme Court has given the Speaker a deadline of December 31 to give his judgment over the petition of disqualification of MLAs, with Shinde being one of those MLAs. As per political scientists, BJP caused a split within the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to diminish the importance of Shinde. There were also talks of Ajit Pawar becoming chief minister. Fadnavis then had to constantly reiterate that Shinde will continue as chief minister regardless of the recent changes. However now the question is, does BJP truly need Eknath Shinde anymore? The government by now must have realised that Jarange’s strike is not like Anna Hazare’s. The government’s image was dirtied after lathi charge and stone pelting during Jarange’s first hunger strike. The violent turn to the protests has only added more to it. Fadnavis had announced that special security will be given to the OBC leaders in Maharashtra. Heavy police forces have been deployed around the houses of many ministers and MLAs in the government. In short, people do not have any trust left in any leaders. Manoj Jarange has been fighting for Maratha reservations for the past 20 years. He even sold some of his land to bear the expenses of the agitations. He was lured into withdrawing his protests but he did not back down. He was advised to continue his fight albeit by taking care of himself, but Jarange has refused to even drink water. The government which never takes the general public into consideration has found a much more dogmatic opponent in Jarange. The end of all this is uncertain and incredibly bleak. Only time will tell who will become a political victim of this. However, the violent protests must stop at the earliest as the first ones to suffer the most are the general public.
