Manoj Jarange Patil: The man who sparked the Maratha protests

Originally hailing from Beed, Patil is said to have shifted to Ambad in Jalna to make a living starting off by working in a hotel. Reports suggest that Patil started off as an activist of the Congress but subsequently broke off from the party to set up his own organisation called Shivba Sanghatna that was meant for empowerment of the Maratha community.

Patil has since 2014 undertaken various hunger strikes and marches to push for reservation for the Maratha community. Most of his protests, however, did not find resonance beyond Jalna district.

An avid proponent of reservations for the Maratha community, Patil has often been part of delegations meeting various state politicians seeking reservations for the community. Interestingly, there is also a video of Patil hidden amongst a multitude of Maratha activists trying to put across his point emphasising the need for Maratha reservation before Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in August last year.

While Patil’s voice could not reach Shinde during the meeting exactly a year later the chief minister was forced to give a call to Patil last week after he sat on a hunger strike in requesting him to call off his agitation.

Patil decided to sit on a hunger strike along with seven other activists on September 29 in Jalna seeking reservations for the Maratha community. Patil is said to have not paid heed to the CMs suggestion that he call of the agitation.

The violence was sparked off after a a large police contingent descended at the protest site stating that Patil’s condition was deteriorating and he needed to be shifted to a government hospital. Patil’s supporters, however, insisted that they would get him checked through a private doctors.

Violence, however, broke out after the police is alleged to have forcefully moved in to take Patil in custody. Maratha activists complained that a large number of protestors were beaten up by the police.

Maratha activists claimed that the decision to break up the entire agitation was due to the proposed visit of many of Maharashtra’s top cabinet ministers during the “Shasan Aply Dari” initiative that was to be held in Jalna on September 8.

“The attack on the Maratha protestors was carried out to ensure that there is no hindrance for the Shasan Aplya Dari initiative that was to be held in Jalna on September 8. The government was not keen on the protest taking place at a time when all the ministers would visit Jalna and that is the reason why attack on protestors was carried out,” Aabasaheb Kudekara a Maratha activist said.

Even as the police failed to break up the protest, Patil has now turned into a totem for the protestors with senior politicians including NCP chief Sharad Pawar meeting him.

Patil meanwhile has said that he is not going to call off his protest. “I am not going to call off my protest unless the demand for Maratha reservation is met,” Patil said.