Maratha quota: Manoj Jarange warns Maharashtra government against delay

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange claimed efforts were underway to discredit him during the 90-day deadline given to the Maharashtra government. He said the community would resist such attempts and reiterated his demands concerning gazettes, withdrawn cases and assistance

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Activist Manoj Jarange on Monday claimed that efforts were underway to discredit him during the 90-day period he has given the Maharashtra government to accept the demands pertaining to the Maratha quota.

Addressing a press conference at a private hospital here, Jarange, however, said the Maratha community would defeat all such efforts to corner him and those associated with him.

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Jarange also said he would soon reveal the connections behind such efforts and those involved in them.

“The Maratha community has understood that inquiries will take place and it shows how much people (associated with the quota stir) are being troubled. We will bear everything but we will not surrender. If they want to send us to jail, I will go,” Jarange asserted.

Jarange said the names of experts proficient in reading the Modi script would be submitted to the state government and that they should be given the power to identify and upload names from records across Maharashtra.

“We are going to give the names of the Modi script experts to the state government. The sub-committee and the government should give power to these experts to find names and upload them too so that they can work across the state,” he said.

“We will not give a single day more than the 90-day period we have given to implement Hyderabad and other gazettes, revoke cases and give aid to those who lost their lives in the fight for Maratha quota,” Jarange asserted.

Jarange said Maratha political leaders were more interested in themselves than members of the community. However, the Maratha community was keeping an eye on this, he added.

The Maharashtra government must have the capacity to face criticism and fulfil the quota demands of the community, Jarange said.

Taking a swipe at his detractors, Jarange said the more they spoke, the more the Maratha community would awaken. People from the community would understand that these leaders and political parties would not come to their help, he added.

He also said his Dussehra rally at Narayangad in Beed district would be held on a small scale due to the prevailing drought situation.

On September 17, Jarange called off his 20-day-old fast and warned the Maharashtra government that he would take the protest to Mumbai if his demands over Maratha reservation were not considered within three months. He has been demanding reservation for the Marathas under the OBC category based on Kunbi caste genealogy.