A day after Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange ended his hunger strike following the government’s assurance on his demands, a section of OBC activists has warned of protest against any move to dilute the reservation quota.
Jarange has been demanding a 10 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and education. He wants Marathas to be recognised as Kunbis, an agrarian caste included in the OBC category, which will make them eligible for reservation.
He ended his agitation on Tuesday after the state government issued a resolution on the Hyderabad gazetteer and announced forming a committee to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community members with historical evidence of their Kunbi heritage.
The government’s decision, however, has ruffled a few feathers.
OBC activist Laxman Hake said the state has no right to accept the demand for providing Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas. He warned that the OBC communities will take to the streets against the decision.
Hake claimed that the gazetteer doesn't say Marathas are socially backwards and should be provided a reservation.
"Who says that revenue records in the gazetteer make them eligible for reservations?" the activist asked.
"The Hyderabad gazetteer says Banjara is a Scheduled Tribe. Will the government give ST reservation to Banjaras? The government shouldn't create 10 other issues to resolve one. OBCs and VJNTs (Vimukt Jati and Nomadic Tribes) will take to the streets," Hake said.
Another OBC activist, Mangesh Sasane, called the government resolution unconstitutional and said they will challenge it in court.
"The government has kept the language in the GR vague and allowed a large number of Marathas to get into the OBC quota. The GR does not specify that documents of only blood relatives of the applicants will be termed valid to get Kunbi certificates. It only mentions relatives, which is not correct,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
A few other OBC activists, Vitthal Talekar, Balasaheb Dakhane, Babasaheb Batule, Shrihari Nirmal, and Asaram Dongre, have already launched a hunger strike at Sonianagar in Jalna's Antarwali Sarati.
On Tuesday, after Jarange ended his hunger strike, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government had convinced the protesters that the caste certificate could be given to individuals and not the community.
"We have found a way out and accepted their most prominent demand to implement the Hyderabad gazetteer. We did not have two thoughts about it. They were demanding that it be implemented for all Marathas. But we tried to convince them that a reservation is not for a group but for individuals, hence this kind of decision cannot be taken as proof is needed for that. The Hyderabad gazetteer will be of help as proof," Fadnavis said.