Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the State government would review the cases filed against Maratha quota agitation protesters and take appropriate action.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Fadnavis, who is also the State Home Minister, said that the government was taking necessary action on the demand to withdraw cases filed in Jalna district against quota protestors agitating for Maratha reservation.
Alluding to the fracas between protestors and the police on September 1, Mr. Fadnavis said the police had used mild force against the Maratha protesters in Jalna, he said, adding that 79 police personnel and 50 persons were injured during the face-off.
Mr. Fadnavis was giving a written reply to questions asked by more than 20 legislators on the Maratha quota issue.
“The state government will review the cases filed against the protesters involved in the Maratha quota agitation and take appropriate action. The government has also sent some of the police officials on compulsory leave and later transferred them out of the district,” he said.
A blanket withdrawal of the cases lodged against the protestors has been a prime demand of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil.
However, Mr. Fadnavis’ reply hinted that the government would be withdrawing cases only after a review of them, rather than a blanket withdrawal as demanded by Jarange-Patil.
A violent fracas had erupted in Jalna’s Antarwali Sarathi village where Mr. Jarange-Patil had been protesting since August 29.
The agitation turned violent after protesters refused to let authorities shift the activist to a hospital on September 1. The police baton-charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the violent mob, leading Jarange-Patil and the protestors to decry the police action as “brutal”.
The Jalna lathi-charge incident had prompted Jarange-Patil to launch two indefinite hunger strikes in September and October, which lasted a total 25 days and nearly paralysed the Eknath Shinde-led tripartite government. Pressure by Maratha outfits had also forced an apology from Mr. Fadnavis and Mr. Shinde regarding the lathi-charge incident.
The police later filed cases against more than 360 people for their alleged involvement in the violence.
Mr. Jarange-Patil has given the Eknath Shinde-led government a ‘deadline’ till December 24 to grant a quota for the Maratha community by including them in the OBC category and giving them OBC Kunbi certificates.
