All-party meet agrees on Maratha quota

As the unrest over the Maratha reservation continues in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday chaired an all-party meeting and sought more time for deliberation on the issue.

After the all-party meeting, Shinde said the all-party meeting decided that reservation should be given to the Maratha community without tampering with the existing quotas of other communities in the state.

The Chief Minister also appealed to activist Manoj Jarange, who has been on hunger strike for the Maratha reservation since October 25, to call off his fast and give the government some time.

“….Time should be given for this; everyone decided this. Whatever unfortunate incidents are happening, everyone has expressed displeasure about them…A committee has been formed of three retired judges… The Backward Class Commission is working on a war footing. Soon, decisions will be taken to give justice to the Maratha community…There is a need to give time, and the Maratha community too should keep patience…,” he said.

Shinde said such violent acts would be a blot on the Maratha community’s agitation for reservation.

Violence broke out in many parts of Maharashtra in the last three days after activist Jarange launched the hunger strike.

Jarange had earlier sat on an indefinite fast in the last week of August and called it off on September 14 after CM Shinde assured to look into the demand. At that time, Jarange had set a deadline of 40 days before the government to fulfil the Maratha quota demand.

“When the government took 40 days earlier, all parties were there. So Marathas now understand that no political party really belongs to them. The government should not fool us by just writing papers. They should tell us how they are going to give us a reservation,” he said.