On January 24, the Bombay High Court declined to issue order barring Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil from entering Mumbai on Republic Day. From his village Antarwali Sarati in the Jalna district, Jarange set out on January 20 to Mumbai as part of the Maratha Aarakshan Morcha, also known as the Maratha reservation march. On January 26, the aforementioned morcha, in which Jarange is expected to have thousands of supporters, is expected to arrive in Mumbai. As provided by the Indian Express, activist Jarange has asked his supporters to prepare for a long sit-in protest in the city and intimidated about his place to begin another indefinite hunger strike.
The Maratha community has been demanding reservations in government jobs and education for a long time, and this rally is part of their renewed efforts to make sure that the government takes notice. Last year, Jarange’s hunger strikes and protests had brought the protest back, but had also resulted in agitation leading to acts of violence, suicides, and the resignation of legislators. During the previous multiple hunger strikes by held Jarange, the state government had given him assurances that the state government will be taking a decision on providing reservation to the Marathas soon.
As per a report in Scroll, in the month of December 2023, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had announced that a special session of the state Assembly would be held in February to pass legislation to extend reservations to the Maratha community.
The order of the Bombay High Court
The aforementioned order had been issued by the division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Shyam Chandak while hearing a plea that had been moved by one Gunratan Sadavarte. Through the said plea, the petitioners urged the court to restrain Jarange’s march to enter Mumbai citing law and order problems. However, the divisive bench opined that the state government has the power to take action to ensure there no situation related to maintenance of law and order in the city arises and that the city roads are not blocked due to the march.
With this, The Bombay High Court recorded the Maharashtra Government’s statement asserting that all necessary measures will be taken to prevent the blockage of public roads or inconvenience to commuters during the Maratha Reservation protests.
In the order, the bench noted that “He (counsel for state) submitted that the State will take all necessary measures to prevent blockage of public way/ways, which may cause inconvenience to the commuters due to the said agitation by Respondent No.9.” (Para 2)
It is also pertinent to note that the State informed the court that so far, no permission has been taken for protest at a particular place. This is in contrast to the media report which have stated that Jarange will be holding the protest at Azad Maidan until the government grants the reservation. AG Birendra Saraf on instructions submitted that the State will follow the legal position enunciated by the Supreme Court in the case of Amit Sahni vs Commissioner of Police.
In the said case, which concerned the protest of Shaheen Bagh in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act, in Paras 17, 18, 19 and 21 of the judgment, the Supreme Court had dealt with occupation of public ways and the duty of the State to keep public areas free from encroachments or obstructions. The court also addressed the limits of the right to protest as a fundamental right while barring indefinite occupation as a manner of peaceful protest.
Referring to the same, the Court held that “That, if deem necessary, the State may make an endeavour to allot appropriate designated place(s) to Respondent No.9 in Criminal Writ Petition No.188 of 2024 for conducting peaceful agitation. That, if need arises the State will adopt necessary measures to avoid breach of public peace and to maintain law and order situation.” (Para 2)
Issuing a notice to activist Jarange, the bench posted the matter for hearing on February 14.
The court said, “Issue notice to respondent 9 (Jarange Patil), to be served through the senior police inspector of the Azad Maidan police station.”
The complete order can be read here:
The Maratha Aarakshan Morcha till now:
The main demand that has been raised by Maratha reservation activist Jarangeis regarding the inclusion of all Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category based on their identification as Kunbis. It is crucial to highlight that Kunbis, a Maratha sub-caste, are members of a largely agrarian community with small land holdings and low incomes, spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
As per a report of the Indian Express, activist Jarange spoke about the reason behind this morcha to be the false promises being made by the state government. Jarange stated “The government gave us the word but is not keeping it. We gave seven months’ time to the government, but it failed to meet our demand. The government claims that it has found lakhs of Kunbi records but is doing nothing to issue caste certificates.”
As per the report, Jarange further added that “The government has said that it will bring in a law for reservation but has done nothing. The OBC community is not asked to produce any records but the government wants Kunbi records from the Maratha community.”
The rally had begun on January 20 with over one lakh. Yesterday, on January 24, the said morcha had reached Pune and had allegedly disrupted the traffic in several key areas of Pune as Jarange and his supporters marched down the Pune-Ahmednagar Road. As per a report of Indian Express, the Maratha activist reached the outskirts of Mumbai at Panvel on Thursday (today) afternoon with his supporters.
The report in IE also provides the schedule for the morcha on Republic Day after entering Mumbai. As per the report, on the morning of Republic Day, Jarange will travel to Chembur where he will garland the state of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and will start the roadshow towards Dadar. “He will travel to Azad maidan at south Mumbai from Dadar via Byculla,” said Virendra Pawar, one of the key coordinators of the protest march as per the report. Pawar also stated that they were yet to get police permission for the same.
Related:
Supreme court strikes down Maratha quota law, says its unconstitutional
What Lies Behind the Ire of the Marathas
Economic Rights within a Caste Struggle: Vishal Kadam on the Maratha Upsurge