Give us Maratha quota or issue shoot-on-sight orders and kill us: Jarange supporter at Azad Maidan

“If you cannot give us reservation, then shoot us dead,” said Nanded farmer Maruti Patil, who has arrived here to take part in activist Manoj Jarange’s Maratha quota stir on Friday.

Other protesters, who have been reaching the metropolis for the past couple of days and making their way to the iconic Azad Maidan near Central Railway’s sprawling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, echoed Patil’s belligerence and said they would not leave till the quota stir ended in victory.

“If you can’t give us reservation, then we don’t want to live. The government should give shoot-on-sight orders and kill us. The government has no idea how difficult our lives are,” 40-year-old Patil told PTI at the Azad Maidan on Thursday night.

Patil and several others like him braved the rains to extend support to Jarange, many of them taking shelter under trees, on footpaths and inside the subway near CSMT.

“It is shameful that the government did not bother to install a temporary structure to shield those taking part in the agitation. Everything is wet, and the ground is full of slush,” said Patil.

Had this rally been led by a prominent leader, the civic body would have erected huge pandals and sheds, said Uddhav Nimbalkar, a resident of Moha village in Beed district’s Parli area. “We don’t deserve such treatment,” he said.

The government should provide reservation to Marathas from the OBC quota in a single day, Nimbalkar said, adding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has “no idea” how big the stir would become.

“He should not test us. If he is not able to give us reservation, then he should vacate the CM’s post,” Nimbalkar added.

Beed resident Balasaheb Deshmukh said the Maratha community was struggling and was unable to give their children proper education.

Accompanied by hundreds of vehicles, 43-year-old Jarange, who began his march from his village Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district on Wednesday, reached Mumbai on Friday morning.

He is scheduled to start his agitation at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai from Friday.

Jarange has been demanding a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. He wants all Marathas to be recognised as Kunbis – an agrarian caste included in the OBC category – which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education.