Maratha Kranti Morcha

The Maratha Kranti Morcha, loosely translated as "Maratha revolutionary demonstration" in the Marathi language, is a series of silent protests organized by the Maratha community in various cities across India as well as overseas. Other groups, such as religious minorities including Muslims, have also supported the Morcha.[1] The impetus for the rallies is the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village, Maharashtra, on 13 July 2016.[2]The protesters have demanded the death sentence for the rapists. It is not politically motivated social movement. In fact, Maratha caste is the largest caste of India and dominate the power structure in Maharashtra because of their numerical strength, especially in the rural society. [3]

Maratha Kranti Morcha
Native name मराठा क्रांती मोर्चा
LocationWorldwide
Also known asमराठा क्रांती (मूक) मोर्चा
Organised byMaratha Community

The rallies feature no leaders and no slogans. Millions of people from all parts of Maharashtra came together to protest, and initially no harm was done to any public or private property until a few instances of violence were noted in January 2017.[4]

The demand for reservations in educational positions and government jobs has also been a part of these protests. Recently, the Bombay High Court upheld the reservations granted to the Maratha community but also mentioned that the percentage of quotas given wasn't justifiable.[5]A large percentage of Marathis are farmers, and the community has been severely affected by droughts and degraded arable land. Due to the lack of reservations, unemployment has become a major problem in the Maratha community. Some castes within the Maratha community, known as Kunbi, do receive the benefits of reservations provided to the Other Backward Class category; however, most people are allegedly out of benefits. More than 95% of the Maratha are socially and educationally backward.

Demands
  • Punishment of culprits in the Kopardi rape and murder case
  • Reservations in educational positions and government jobs
  • Implementation of recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers chaired by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
  • Amendment of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to stop its misuse.[6]

Influencing factors

Social media

Social Media has played a key role in the protests; various Facebook groups and pages were created to support the rallies and help groups organize.[7] Many college students, graduates, and IT professionals have been actively managing the protests and providing information using social media.[8]

Social

To counter the Maratha Kranti Morcha, a consolidation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Dalits splinter groups have forged an alliance and decided to organize silent morchas across Maharashtra with the aim of defending their reservation quotas and demanding that the reservation norms not be tampered with or that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 not be amended.[9]

Political

The president of a regional political party, the Republican Party of India (A), and current member of the Rajya Sabha of the Indian parliament, Ramdas Athawale – the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said that those earning an annual income of up to Rs 600,000 from all castes should be given reservations in jobs and education. He also promised to bring up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.[10]

Judicial
  • On 7 October 2016, 2 month and 24 days after the rape and murder incident, the Ahmednagar Police filed a charge sheet running into over 350 pages before the Ahmednagar sessions court in which the trio was charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.[11]
  • On 19 October 2016, 3 months to the incident, the Kopardi rape and murder case trial began in the Ahmednagar sessions court. The special public prosecutor and lawyer Ujjwal Nikam opened the case by describing the charges of criminal conspiracy to commit rape and murder against all three accused.[12]
  • On 18 November 2017, 1 year and 4 months after the incident, the Ahmednagar sessions court convicted the three men on charges of rape, murder, and criminal conspiracy.[13]
  • On 29 November 2017, the Ahmednagar sessions court awarded the death sentence to all three convicts.[14][15]

Silent protests

09 August 2016 -Aurangabad [16] 30 August 2016- Beed [17]

21 September 2016 – Navi Mumbai[18][19]

23 September 2016 – Ahmednagar[20]

25 September 2016 – Pune[21][22]

25 September 2016 – Yavatmal[23]

25 September 2016 – Washim[23]

26 September 2016 – Saint Petersburg[24]

27 September 2016 – Sangli[25][26]

28 September 2016 – Dhule[27]

2 October 2016 – Hyderabad[28]

3 October 2016 – Dubai

9 October 2016 – Tweet Morcha[29]

9 October 2016 – Daman district, India[30]

9 October 2016 – Badlapur[31][32]

15 October 2016 – Kolhapur[33]

16 October 2016 – Thane[34][35]

16 October 2016 – Chiplun[36]

16 October 2016 - New York City[37]

19 October 2016 – Chandrapur[38]

19 October 2016 – Bidar, Karnataka[39]

9 August 2017 – Mumbai[40][41][42]

The Maratha Kranti Morcha carried out its biggest silent protest in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, on 9 August 2017. Around half a million members of the Maratha community from different parts of the state gathered in Mumbai. The protest started from Jijamata Zoo Byculla and culminated at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Schools, junior colleges, and about 450 institutes in South Mumbai remained shut. Mumbai's famed Dabbawalas took the day off to participate in the morcha.[43]

During this silent protest, leaders from the Maratha community also warned that they would switch to violent tactics after two weeks in case the state authorities chose not to act on their demands.[44]

Violence

January 2017

Road blockades (chakka jams) were held on 31 January 2017 to gather momentum and mount pressure on the state government before the community’s silent rally scheduled in Mumbai on 6 March 2017.

31 January 2017 – Mumbai[45] and across Maharashtra[46]

  • Non-fatal injuries : at least 3 citizens[47]
  • Arrests : at least 27[48]

July 2018

On 23 July 2018, a Maratha Kranti Morcha activist committed suicide; the protesters refuse to collect the body and demanded the resignation of Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Kakasaheb Shinde-Patil, aged 28 committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari river during agitations at the village of Kaygaon Toka in the Gangapur taluka of Aurangabad District. The protesters blamed the district administration for not deploying boats and lifeguards despite being forewarned about the agitations.[49]

On 24 July 2018, protests turned violent; protesters attacked police officers and torched buses, police vehicles, and private cars.[50]

25 July 2018 – Mumbai,[51] Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Thane, Kalyan, Palghar, Raigad

  • Self-immolation : 5 protesters[52][53][54][55]
  • Non-fatal injuries : 2 police officers[56]
  • Property damage : 160 private cars in Navi Mumbai,[57] 37 public transport buses in Mumbai,[58] 2 fire brigade vehicles in Aurangabad,[59] 16 vehicles torched, 80 vehicles vandalized in Chakan, Pune,[60][61][62][63][64][65] 16 buses burned in Solapur[66]

August 2018

Maratha groups announced a shutdown across Maharashtra on August Kranti Day 2018 to intensify agitation for reservations. August Kranti Day is celebrated annually on 9 August. The Marathas launched a non-cooperation movement against the Government of Maharashtra and the Government of India. The non-cooperation movement covers non-payment of taxes to government and local bodies until reservations are implemented.[67][68]

Impact

After continuously growing protests in each city and millions of people's participation in each Maratha Kranti Morcha, on 13 October 2016 the Government of Maharashtra took the decisions to:[69] and

  • Increase the upper limit of the Economically Backward Class (EBC) to Rs.6,00,000, and announced the extension of monetary benefits under this category to students from all castes (Marathi). Students from the EBC category studying in all professional courses would be eligible for benefits such as fee reimbursement under the Rajshri Shahu Maharaj Scheme (Marathi) (Marathi)(Marathi) (Marathi) (Marathi), which was named after the Maratha king Rajshri Shahu of Kolhapur, who introduced the first reservation policy in the kingdom of Kolhapur State.
  • Create provisions for children of small landholding farmers under the Panjabrao Deshmukh Scheme (Marathi) (Marathi) (Marathi).

As the Bombay high court had stayed the 16% reservation granted to Marathas in government jobs and educational positions on the grounds that the data used by the government was faulty, the Government of Maharashtra on 5 December 2016 filed a 2,800-page affidavit to justify the reservations for Marathas as legal and show that it did not violate constitutional provisions. The affidavit contained documents substantiating the claim that the community is socially and educationally backward.[70]

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See also

References
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