Maratha Kranti tsunami reaches CM Fadnavis' doorstep

Once known for their strong warrior like spirit, the historical Maratha community that ruled half of India has decided it is time for another revolution. With an ever increasing number of people joining the silent protests, the Morcha began originally to ask for the community's rights, slowly turning into a giant wave of emotional protests. "People have been wearing the colour white to show their protest hoping that they receive justice for incidents such as the Kopardi rape and murder case, the Dr Swaminathan report etc. This is nothing but a Maratha tsunami. The unrest has been festering within the community for quite sometime, but in light of the recent events, it has burst forth. Today lakhs of people have come on to the street quietly but determinedly standing their grounds for their rights. This is history in the making," said Nitin Patil, Maratha leader from Jalgaon.

In Maharashtra, a majority of the people in the Maratha community are engaged in agriculture. Once upon a time, their community was wealthy, strong and extremely prosperous. Each Maratha held a minimum of 50 to 100 acres of land. "My father left his government job because my grand mother thought that a land owning farmer does not require a job in the government. We had 70 acres of land. Everything was in our house. But our land was divided among our fathers three brothers. Some of the land was sold to pay my uncles education loan so he could move up the ladder and work in a private educational institution. Now, we own merely 10 acres of land and that too arid," said Ramesh Pawar, an engineering student from Nasik.

Pawar said that his father told him that an education or a government job is the way to resolve their financial problem. Liladhar Patil, Maratha Sena Sangh leader from North Maharashtra said that a few Maratha community students wanted to study in the field of education. "Most of these were wealthy so the fees were not an issue. But due to poor farming most farmers do not want their children to do the same work. Today education is very costly and most people cannot afford it. Besides, the merit hampers their chances of getting into good colleges. Out of frustration, most Maratha students and jobless youths are joining the Maratha silent protest on a large scale. They desperately need the reservation and education facilities to get out of this crisis," Patil added.

Patil also said that the media has painted a false picture by epitomising Sharad Pawar as the ultimate Maratha. "The reality is that more than 90% of the Marathas are poor and struggling to meet their end. Most of them were, once land lords, but are now working as labourers in other people's fields,"said Ranjeet Shinde, the social commentator said.

Pratab Asabe, senior journalist said that a majority of the Maratha community people voted for the BJP and Sena in the preceding elections. "After coming to power, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis refused to waive off the farmers loan. Moreover, no timely compensation were given to farmers for their crop damages during droughts and hailstorms. Also there were no good rates to the farmer produce."

Chief minister Fadnavis had chosen Babasaheb Purandhare for the commencement of Maharashtra Bhushan but he was not accepted by the Maratha organisations as saying that Purandhare had written saffronised history through a Brahaminical prism. Despite strong opposition, Fadnavis went ahead and awarded Purandhare, which hurt the community.

At present there are 288 MLAs in the BJP-Sena government, out of which 148 are Maratha MLAs and yet no Maratha leader has a major say in government. "In Congress-NCP government, the top ten ministerial posts were headed by the Marathas including the chief minister's post. In this government, Fadnavis who is a brahmin only wants to implement the RSS agenda and put a ban on things such as a ban on the slaughtering of cows and oxen. Most of the decisions made by this government are anti agrarian. So, people started to feel like there was no one in the government who can address their woes. All disgruntled leaders across party lines are directly and indirectly supporting these silent Maratha rallies. Now, the Maratha kranti tsunami has reached Fadnavis door step. He has to meet the demands or get ready to face the tsunami,"said a political observer.