Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil speaks during a programme in Pune, Wednesday, January 31, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Maratha reservation campaigner Manoj Jarange-Patil has threatened yet another agitation and hunger strike from 10 February if Kunbi caste certificate are not issued for enabling them to get benefits under OBCs.
“On the issue of sage-soyare, Marathi term for relatives from the family tree, there seems to be a doubtful stand of the government. The position needs to be clarified or else I would start a hunger strike from 10 February,” Jarange-Patil said on Friday.
The Maharashtra government is closely observing the developments at Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna district.
It may be mentioned, on Thursday, Jarange-Patil went to his home after a gap of five months and three days, but not before reiterating that the movement had not ended but postponed to enable the government to work towards issuance of Kunbi certificates.
The latest development comes at a time when serious differences have emerged within the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Maha Yuti government over the issue and widening the scope of the reservation with senior NCP leader and minister Chhagan Bhujbal airing opinions against the decision.
On Republic Day, when Jarange-Patil was camping in Navi Mumbai, the government came out with a notification “Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic= Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000”, which defined sage-soyare (blood relations) includes relatives of the applicant’s father, grandfather, great grandfather and in earlier generations forming out of marriages within the same castes and will include relations forming out of marriages within the same caste.
Bhujbal has described it as an “eyewash” and a “backdoor entry” to the Marathas in the OBC quota.
So far, 54 lakh Kunbi-Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi records have been found during the scrutiny over the months.