The Maratha Agitation: A Changing Tone

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The Maratha Agitation:
A Changing Tone!
September 24, 2016
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Meeting of
Maratha leaders
and members of
the various district
committees of the
Maratha agitation
at the Shivaji
Mandir Hall
The Build Up
On September 20, members of the Maratha community held a meeting at Shivaji Mandir Hall
in the Dadar locale of Mumbai. These members have been instrumental in organizing The
Maratha Kranti Morcha (Maratha Revolution Rally) across the state of Maharashtra in the
recent past.
The Maratha Kranti Morcha (Maratha Revolution Rally), which is an amalgamation of several
district and sub district level Maratha committees of the state of Maharashtra is planning on
holding a demonstration of ‘mammoth’ proportions in Mumbai, tentatively on October 22-23
and coincidentally before the commemoration of the Hindu Festival, Diwali. During the
meeting, several Maratha leaders took to the stage to voice their gross dissatisfaction with
leaders in the incumbent government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena
coalition as well as against leaders in the opposition party. The Maratha Revolution Rally for
Mumbai is reportedly slated to garner around 2.5 million participants from across the state.
Most of these participants are anticipated to arrive in droves from several districts across
Maharashtra. The Maratha committees on a district and sub-district level have organized
themselves into one singular forum to carry out the future steps of the agitation. The rally in
Mumbai, is supposed to be the last stand with a demand for the Chief Minister Devendra
Fadnavis to be present for the signing of a memorandum on Maratha reservation which will be
handed over to him by the protest leaders. The rally has been called for to be peaceful, as seen
during the previous protests in which protesters held silent marches across several districts in
Maharashtra starting in July 2016 in Aurangabad district. A similar rally has also been called
for in Pune on September 25. During the meeting on September 20, several civilians belonging
to the Maratha community pledged their allegiance to the cause while coming forward to show
their support for the rally in Mumbai.
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Leaders Getting Vocal, Participation’s Increasing, There’s a Shift in Tone
Several Maratha leaders, including the orchestrator of the first such rally are members with
varied political affiliations but have combined their forces for the Maratha reservation demand
while political leaders such as Bhai Jagtap, belonging to the main opposition party, the Indian
National Congress (INC) were present for the meeting on September 20. The issue pertaining
to the rural nature of the members of the Maratha community was also raised during the
meeting while local service organizations like the Dabbahwallah’s Union (a local organization
of lunch delivery men that delivers homemade lunch food to millions of professionals across
Mumbai) has also pledged its support to the agitation due to its 100 percent Maratha
membership.
In the last few days, following the
meeting, threatening messages of the
perceived power of the Marathas have
been floating around on social media,
warning of a backlash if the demands of
reservations are not met.
Several top Maratha leaders including
former Chief Ministers Narayan Rane
and Sharad Pawar have blamed the BJP-
led state government for not addressing
the Maratha reservation issue; while
Narayan Rane has also issued a
threatening statement citing that
Marathas are currently fighting the
government by their thoughts, but they
could pick up swords if need be due to the
warrior history of the Maratha caste. Shiv
Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray held a
press conference on September 21 and addressed the issue of Maratha reservations while
opposing Sharad Pawar, who he has alleged of orchestrating the Maratha agitation, of
convening a special session of the Legislative Assembly for discussions over the demands for
Maratha reservations rather than organizing protest marches.
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The Mumbai Rally - An End to the Movement or Just the Beginning?
Taking into account, the call given by the Maratha leaders organizing the protest in Mumbai
for the rally to be peaceful and given that previous rallies by the community have witnessed no
serious incidents of major unrest, the likelihood of the slated rally in Mumbai to be
accompanied with instances of violence should ideally be unlikely however given that the rally
in Mumbai is slated to be the last one in a series of protest marches held by the Maratha Kranti
Morcha, the conclusion of the agitation might witness localized instances of unrest, in the case
that the government decides not to accept the demands of the community or does not appear
to appease the protesting Marathas.
The mass mobilization of members of the Maratha community along the streets of a congested
city like Mumbai is expected to cause severe disruptions to traffic, train travel and continuity
of business at least on the day of the protest rally. Further, the mass movement of people from
districts across Maharashtra may also cause problems to daily commuters and those operating
in Mumbai on the date of the protest.
On the political front, the rally which has
supposedly been logistically and financially
supported by members of the opposition
parties in Maharashtra, can be viewed as a
ploy to destabilize the government. It has
been peaceful thus far because the
architects of the movement have wanted it
to be peaceful however there is increasing
active participation by top leaders, some of
whom have been known to adopt aggressive
political strategies. Their intent might be to
alienate the Maratha community which
constitutes 32 % of the state’s population,
from the BJP, for which the community
voted in sizeable numbers. Several leaders
of the Shiv Sena, and Union and state
ministers of the BJP itself, including
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs
Raosaheb Danve have displayed solidarity
with the march and might even attend with a number of Indian National Congress (INC) and
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) opposition members. Sources have shared that Raj
Thackeray (President – Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) would hold a special press conference
to speak on the Maratha Reservation and the Dalit Atrocity Act tentatively between October

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1 – 10 and Uddhav Thackeray (President – Shiv Sena) would be speaking on the Maratha issue
during his Dussera Melava (Dussera Rally) speech. According to the proceedings of the
meeting held in Mumbai on September 20, there seems to be scope for the protest to bring
Mumbai to a standstill which carries the likelihood of impacting business continuity within the
city. Moreover, the opposition to the incumbent government on the issue might manifest into
protests outside government buildings and at iconic locations in the city by the end of October.
The situation also has the capacity of spiralling into a law and order problem for the state
administration in the case the protests turn violent if the police attempt to intervene in the
peaceful protest, anticipating any untoward incident. During the protest there are also
possibilities of some miscreants using the large crowds to further their political agenda and
incite violence while security arrangements across the city of Mumbai are liable to be
excessively increased when the protest actually takes place.
What’s Coming Up?
Red: Upcoming protests Blue: Recently held protests
*The date for the Maratha Kranti Morcha’s silent march for Satara has not been decided.

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Pune Maratha silent march slated for September 25
The Maratha agitation will reach Pune on September 25. Over 1 million participants have
pledged their support to the Maratha silent protest march in Pune. The Pune Police has asked
citizens to stay indoors on September 25 due to the proposed march and are reportedly going
to clear 18 roads in the city from where thousands of protesters are supposed to converge
along the arterial Laxmi Road.
Protesters will gather at the Deccan Gymkhana, the rally will then proceed onto Jangli Maharaj
Road and move to the Sambhaji statue near Khanduji Baba Chowk. After offering garlands to
the statue, it will move towards Laxmi Road via Sambhaji Bridge. From there, the protesters
will come out onto Nehru Road and enter Camp through Quarter Gate. Going over Nehru
Memorial Hall and the Blue Nile Hotel, the walkers will finish their protest at Council Hall.
Red line indicates the route of the silent march through Pune on September 25
Below shared is an advisory of the Pune Police dated September 22, warning protesters of not
using any casteist, religious slogans, weapons during the protest march. Further, the Pune
Police has also warned the protesters of not deviating from the prescribed route of the protest
while requesting their utmost cooperation. In the eventuality that these norms are not
followed the Pune Police has threatened of discontinuing the protest march.

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Thane Maratha committee meeting to be held on September 25
The Maratha district and sub-district committees will be holding a meeting on September 25,
similar to the one witnessed in Mumbai on September 20, to decide the date on which they
plan to take out a silent protest rally in Thane, approximately 27 kilometres from Mumbai. In
Thane a similar mobilization of around 2 million protesters is expected for the Maratha Kranti
Morcha rally.
Protest rally planned for Nashik district on September 24
According to the organizers approximately 1.5-2 million people are slated to extend their
support to the peaceful protest march. The protest march will begin at 10 AM from Tapovan
and travel through Panchavati Karanja, Victoria Bridge, Ravivar Peth, Tilak road, M G road and
end at the District Collectorate office.

The Maratha Agitation: A Changing Tone

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