A day after pro-Maratha quota campaigner Manoj Jarange Patil ended his indefinite fast, doctors reported that his kidneys and liver are enlarged necessitating a prolonged recovery period.
The 40-year-old poster boy of Maratha agitation is dehydrated, leading to increased urea and creatinine levels due to his nine-day fast.
Currently, Mr. Patil is under medical supervision at a private hospital in the Ulkanagari area of Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
“He will take some to recover,” doctors said.
The activist, who had been agitating at Jalna’s Antarwali Sarati village since October 25 demanding reservation for Marathas in government jobs and education, called off his fast on November 2 after four Maharashtra ministers and retired judges M.G. Gaikwad - who had headed the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission - and S.B. Shukre, met and convinced him of the necessity to grant more time to the government and to the legal committees to ensure that the Marathas got a secure reservation that would hold water in the Supreme Court. They urged him to call off the indefinite hunger strike.
Speaking from the hospital on Friday morning, Mr. Patil said that he had ended his fast but the quota agitation continues. He asked the Eknath Shinde government to resolve the issue by December 24 and added that relay fasts would also continue.
On November 2, the activist gave a new ultimatum to the State government to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas to get quota benefits in the OBC category. He also demanded the State government to withdraw cases against the pro-quota agitators by December 24.
For the past couple of days, the western State has witnessed outbreaks of violence, leading to the complete suspension of State-run bus services in five Marathwada districts and the imposition of curfews and internet shutdowns in parts of Beed, where the residences of two MLAs became targets for protesters.
Maharashtra Bar seeks PMs intervention
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Bar Association has submitted a plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging consideration for the inclusion of the Maratha caste in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category throughout Maharashtra. The Association, in light of the prevailing circumstances, has put forth a comprehensive set of requests, seeking equitable treatment for the Maratha community in the state.
In its petition, the Bar Association demanded the Prime Minister to consider the inclusion of the Maratha caste in the OBC category in the entire state of Maharashtra by issuing appropriate directions and orders.
It asked Mr. Modi to direct the National Backward Classes Commission to investigate and consider the inclusion of the Maratha Community in the OBC category and also address the backlog of 55 years pertaining to the Maratha caste’s inclusion in the OBC category of Maharashtra State.
The petition has been filed by advocates Rajsaheb Patil, Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record D. Siva Rami Reddy, and Vijay S. Khamkar.
