Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil.
Credit: DH Photo
Mumbai: "Please give reservation to the Marathas", said Manoj Jarange-Patil in feeble voice as his health condition deteriorated significantly on the eighth day of his hunger strike demanding reservation for the community of Kunbis through the OBC route and implementation of the draft notification of ‘sage-soyare’, a Marathi term for 'relatives from the family tree', which widens the scope of the quota.
Jarange-Patil, who is in his forties, has stopped taking fluids and refused medicines.
This is his seventh hunger strike in 13 months.
“Please give reservation to the Marathas.. help the farmers,” said Jarange-Patil as he faced difficulty in speaking.
There was concern among those who are part of the sit-in with Jarange-Patil at the Antarwali Sarathi village in the Ambad tehsil of Jalna district of Maharashtra.
A team of doctors were present at the site. However, he refused treatment even as people requested him to go by the advice of doctors.
"...dada tumi aushad ghaya...", said the protestors in one voice asking him to take medicines.