‘Who can stop me’: Jarange-Patil to head to Mumbai, asks supporters to stay back

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Monday announced he will leave for Mumbai with four to five associates on Tuesday, and asked his supporters to stay back for now, a day after police refused permission for his indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in the country’s financial capital starting September 19.

He warned the state government that his supporters could enter Mumbai in large numbers if the police tried to stop his agitation at Azad Maidan. Jarange-Patil said he will start his journey to Mumbai with two vehicles, two ambulances, and four to five associates on Tuesday morning.

“Do not march to Mumbai now. I will call you at the right time. Stay here, stay safe, and remain alert. Do not get upset. We have to change our strategy. Instead, spend your time increasing the number of vehicles that will march towards Mumbai,” he said. “Now I will see who can stop me and who will deny me permission. They refused permission, stating there would be a large gathering. Now, on what grounds will they stop me?”

On Saturday, he announced a march to Mumbai on Tuesday to press for his demand for the Maratha quota under the Kunbi category. Jarange-Patil had said he would remain in Mumbai until the government accepted his demand before he was denied permission for the protest on Sunday.

Police said the proposed protest could disrupt normal life, particularly in South Mumbai, and affect schools, courts, public transport and healthcare services. Such disruption could potentially lead to a serious law-and-order situation, police said.

Police cited the Ganeshotsav celebrations beginning September 14 and said the festivities would require extensive deployment and that holding a protest amid large crowds could raise additional public-safety concerns.

Jarange-Patil alleged that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tried to create obstacles by invoking religious considerations. “Hence, we will have to respond in our own way,” he said.

Jarange-Patil alleged a conspiracy to create riots by infiltrating the agitation. He said he decided to change the strategy to avoid putting his supporters at risk, but maintained that the community’s demands would remain unchanged.

He said he did not want violence or to put the community at risk. “I do not want to surrender to them. If they start shedding your blood, I will have to surrender before them, and I am not prepared to do that. I do not want to put all of you in danger,” he said. “I do not know whether I will come back or not. Anything can happen to me, and I do not care about myself. I do not want to damage the prestige of the community.”

Jarange-Patil said the original plan would remain unchanged. On Sunday, he stopped taking saline and asked his Mumbai team to file a fresh application with the police.

Jarange-Patil has been on an indefinite hunger strike since August 29 in Jalna over 15 demands related to Maratha reservation.

On Tuesday last, Fadnavis said the government had fulfilled most of Patil’s demands that would benefit the community. Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the government had taken “unprecedented” measures, including facilitating Kunbi certificates for the eligible Marathas to be included in the Other Backward Class category. He said they implemented reservation benefits and funded welfare schemes.

Minister Patil, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation, said over 350,000 Maratha youths had benefited from the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes quota. He added that a similar number had obtained Kunbi certificates.