Journalism of Courage
Ahead of a protest march in Maharashtra’s Beed on Saturday over the demand that the killers of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh be arrested, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Friday warned Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that he would have to repent if he did not take a strong stand in the case.
“Chief minister saheb, you should keep in mind…You should not support those involved in the sarpanch’s murder otherwise you will have to repent,” Jarange-Patil said speaking to reporters in Beed.
Jarange-Patil arrived in Beed on Saturday morning to participate in the ‘Akrosh Morcha’ organised to demand the arrest of the accused in the case. “If the chief minister fails to arrest the real culprits, we will organise morchas across the state,” he warned.
“We are hoping the state government will hear the voices of the people and wake up. If the government refuses to wake up, we will have to force it to wake up…We will not sit quietly till we get justice in this matter. Be it the ruling parties or the Opposition parties, no one should play politics in this matter,” Jarange-Patil said.
Deshmukh was kidnapped in broad daylight on December 9, pushed into a Scorpio, and allegedly assaulted for around three hours before he succumbed. His body was dumped on a road near his village.
Deshmukh’s murder rocked the Winter Assembly session, with Opposition MLAs staging protests demanding the arrest of the accused. Even leaders of the ruling dispensation pointed fingers at Walmik Karad, alleged to be a close associate of Maharashtra’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde.
Jarange-Patil said Fadnavis and the state deputy chief ministers should not take the incident lightly. “Some people are resorting to goondaism, some are brandishing guns, police are behaving arrogantly. The chief minister should not back such people…if he does, he will have to repent. Whoever is involved in the murder, be it an MLA or a minister, put him in jail. Even 19 days later, the culprits are scot-free. Does this mean the CM is backing them?” Jarange-Patil asked.
