Maratha quota bandh called off

Mumbai: Violent protests by Marathas broke out in Mumbai and its adjoining areas during a bandh on Wednesday over demands for reservation. The agitators broke vehicles, blocked highways and even stopped trains, disrupting normal life in the city.

The Mumbai bandh organisers, who had planned a peaceful protest, had to call it off around 2 pm after several violent incidents.

There were clashes between protesters and police at Kalamboli where the Mumbai-Pune highway was blocked.

Protesters targeted police with stone pelting and the police had to resort to firing in the air. Thane also witnessed violent protests and rail rokos. Incidents of stone pelting took place in Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivali. Thane and Palghar districts saw a complete shutdown of markets. Around evening, the situation returned to normal.

There were several incidents of rasta roko, stone pelting, tyre burning and vandalisation of public transport. People were forced to shut shops in Nalasopara, Ghatkopar, Chembur and other areas. Agitators at Tulinj Road, Nalasopara, beat up shopkeepers. Shops were forced to shut at Nalasopara, Lalbaug, Dadar, Matunga and Parel area. Posters of CM Devendra Fadnavis were torn in parts of Thane. Southbound traffic on the Western Express Highway was blocked.

Breaking his silence, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he is ready for discussions on reservation with community leaders. According to Mr Fadnavis, some political leaders are taking undue advantage of the situation.
The Union government and PMO are also taking stock of the situation. After intervention by BJP chief Amit Shah, Mr Fadnavis toned down his earlier aggressive stance and invited pro-reservation organisations for talks. Though Mr Fadnavis did not apologise for the allegations levelled against Maratha organisations, revenue minister Chandrakant Patil has apologised for the same.

The stir on Maratha quota going on since a few days across the state is set to intensify in the future. To calm the raging protests, Mr Fadnavis has changed his aggressive stance and invited organisations for discussions. He added that the government wants reservation, but the matter is pending in court.

He described all the steps taken by the government to reimburse fees, provide financial help to the youth for business amidst other things. CM Fadnavis asked chief secretary D. K. Jain to remove all hurdles posed before implementation of the schemes for Marathas. He added that he is giving staying state recruitments a serious thought, but there might be repercussions. The Maratha youth wasn’t reservation in government jobs, so the state may keep 16 per cent seats vacant for the community. However, now there is pressure on the government to give constitutional reservations in recruitment.

Meanwhile, the PMO and Union home department is taking stock of the situation in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena MPs and others raised the issue in the Parliament. The Centre is concerned about the law and order situation and is also seeking the intelligence bureau’s help. Mr Fadnavis has been apprising Mr Shah of all developments.