Eligible Marathas to get Kunbi certificates, Jarange ends fast

Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday ended his five-day-old hunger strike after the Maharashtra government accepted most of his demands, including granting eligible Marathas Kunbi caste certificates which will make them eligible for reservation benefits available to OBCs. Jarange accepted a glass of fruit juice offered by senior BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who heads the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation, and other members of the panel at south Mumbai's Azad Maidan, the site of his agitation since August 29, marking the end of his fast. He later left Azad Maidan in an ambulance for medical check-up.

Jarange had earlier demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies -- Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar -- come to Azad Maidan for him to break his fast. "This would ensure there was no bitterness among Marathas,'' he said. Vikhe Patil told the activist said all three are out of Mumbai and appealed to him to break his fast. The activist warned against the BJP-led government reneging on its promises. "I warn Vikhe Patil if there is any attempt to deceive us on implementation of the Government Resolution (GR) on implementation of the Hyderabad gazette, in which a three-member committee will be set up at village level, and promises like providing jobs to the kin of Maratha activists who lost their lives in protests, withdrawal of cases against protesters, we will not keep quiet. I will come to Vikhe's home and sit there till I die,'' Jarange cautioned.

The activist claimed Marathas in the Marathwada region are Kunbis (an OBC community) and the three-member committee to be set up at village level must consider the 58 lakh records found to ascertain the Kunbi status for the Maratha community. Jarange started his hunger strike on August 29, the latest in his series of protests since 2023, seeking the inclusion of Marathas under the OBC category for availing reservation in government jobs and education.