Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) “If you cannot give us reservation, then shoot us dead,” Nanded farmer Maruti Patil, who arrived here to take part in activist Manoj Jarange’s Maratha quota stir, said on Thursday.
Other protesters, who have been arriving in the metropolis since 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 at sight orders and kill us. The government has no idea how difficult our lives are,” 40-year-old Patil told PTI at Azad Maidan.
Patil, who arrived here a day prior, 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.
“We don’t deserve such treatment. If this rally was by some big 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.
The government should give us reservation from OBC quota in a single day, Nimbalkar said, adding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has “no idea” how big the stir is going to be.
“He should not test us. If he is not able to give us reservation, then she should vacate the CM’s post,” Nimbalkar added.
Beed resident Balasaheb Deshmukh said the Maratha community was struggling and was unable to give children proper education.
Jarange set out for Mumbai from his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on Wednesday, and reached Shivneri Fort, the birthplace of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in Pune district with hundreds of his supporters on Thursday morning.
He is scheduled to start his stir from Friday.
Jarange has been demanding that all Marathas be recognised as Kunbis, an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education. PTI DC BNM
