OBC activists on hunger strike at Kranti Chowk against reservation
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community are strongly against providing reservation to the Maratha community from the OBC category. To express our opposition, an agitation is being held at Kranti Chowk from Wednesday, with activists Ram Perkar, Janardhan Kapoor, Sandeep Ghodke, and Sainath Jadhav initiating a hunger strike to express their stance.
The activists alleged that amidst the political calculations surrounding upcoming elections, there has been a push to grant OBC status to the Maratha community. This development has triggered dissatisfaction within the OBC community, prompting the OBC, Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) and Special Backward Classes (SBC) coordination committee to take a proactive stance and launch this agitation.
The Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government laid the groundwork for extending OBC certification to the Maratha community. Perkar said that the community has organized marches, demonstrations, and protests across Maharashtra to counter this situation.
The government established the Justice Gaikwad Commission to investigate the social and educational backwardness of the Maratha community. The commission, operating under Article 15 (4) and 16 (4) of the Constitution, concluded that the Maratha community faced social and educational backwardness and lacked adequate representation.
Additionally, it declared the Maratha community to be in an exceptional situation. However, the Supreme Court, on May 5, 2021, nullified the reservation granted to the Maratha community, overturning all decisions made by this commission. Perkar emphasized that this action resulted in the denial of reservations to the entire Maratha caste in Maharashtra. Saraswati Harkal, Kirti Shinde, Sasikala Khobare, Subhadra Jadhav and others activists were present.