Senior OBC leader and Maharashtra Cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has urged OBCs on Monday to not suffer by “keeping quiet” and “spread terror (dahshat)” in order to get things done.We must speak up if we are facing anything. But if we are facing injustice or having some trouble and we decide to keep quiet, then we will not get a remedy for it. Therefore, now it is time to spread terror (evdhi dahshat majvaychi) and get things done,” said Bhujbal, the Food and Civil Supplies minister who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction. Bhujbal made these remarks during his visit to the Jalna district in Marathwada en route to Beed, where he intended to meet with OBC Samata Parishad’s senior worker Subhash Raut, whose hotel was allegedly set on fire by Maratha protesters.
Bhujbal stressed that he was not against granting the quota to Marathas in government jobs and education which can be given separately. "Protesters are using force and intimidation to attain their objectives. The Marathwada region has witnessed a surge in arson and violence during the Maratha reservation protests," Bhujbal told reporters.He said when Maratha leaders realised that they wouldn't get the reservation directly (outside the OBC quota), they attempted to obtain it through the back door (within the OBC category)."We will not allow such tactics and will fight to protect our reservation," he added. The Constitution provided reservations to uplift socially backward communities and it is not a poverty alleviation programme."The chief architect of the Constitution, B R Ambedkar, has provided the reservations based on social backwardness and not on the economic criteria," the minister said.
He appealed to members of the Other Backward Classes to unite for the protection of their reservation rights and stressed the need for unity. The Maharashtra government has expanded the scope of the Justice Sandip Shinde (retd) Committee formed to study the feasibility of giving Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community members in view of the protests spearheaded by activist Manoj Jarange, who recently withdrew his indefinite fast on the assurance of the state government. Among the demands of Jarange is that Marathas be given Kunbi certificates so that they can get the reservation under the Other Backward Classes segment. According to Jarange, he has given the deadline to the state government for the implementation of the Maratha quota by December 24 though the government has sought time till January 2.Marathas, who constitute nearly 33% of the state's population, have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs. It was in the year 1981 when the state saw its first protests demanding the Maratha reservation under the leadership of the Mathadi Labour Union leader Annasaheb Patil. The community has been seeking Kunbi caste certificates for Marathas which will enable their inclusion in the OBC category for reservation. Kunbis, who are associated with agriculture, are grouped under the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category in Maharashtra. Manoj Jarange-Patil, a local Maratha leader, have been sitting on a hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati village demanding reservations for the Maratha community in education and government jobs. It was only after his health deteriorated on the fourth day of the fast-unto-death agitation, that police intervened in the agitation. Jarange-Patil participated in more than 30 agitations for Maratha quota since 2011. In 2014 he led a huge rally at the Aurangabad divisional headquarters which established his identity as the front leader of the Maratha agitation across the state.