“I have put my life at stake. I am not afraid of death. All the hard-working Marathas are behind me.” - Manoj Jarange Patil
A 40-year-old farmer named Manoj Jarange Patil has emerged as one of the most influential voices in Maharashtra today as the face of the Maratha quota agitation. Jarange has been leading the agitations and pulling in massive crowds in a bid to get reservation for the Maratha community.
On Wednesday (November 1), Jarange announced that he would stop drinking water from evening if the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government did not fulfil his demand. The fresh ultimatum came after Jarange’s earlier protests and hunger strike in the last couple of months have worked in intensifying the demand for reservation for the politically influential Maratha community which comprises nearly 30 percent of Maharashtra’s population.
Who is Manoj Jarange Patil?
A farmer who has studied till matriculation, Jarange has been part of the Maratha quota agitation for nearly 15 years. He originally belongs to the Matori village in Maharashtra’s Beed district but has settled in Ambad in Jalna district from where he is leading the agitation. The Maratha quota agitation has lacked a firm face for years, a void that has been filled by Jarange.
A married man with four children, Jarange is currently not involved with any political party and has been careful in reiterating that his agitation is apolitical. But he was district youth president for Congress till 2004. Later, Jarange founded the Shivba Sangathana. He has stirred 35 protests in the last 12 years, from 2011.
Jarange sold his own land of around two acres to fund the protests. He has been demanding Rs 50 lakh financial assistance and government jobs for the kin of Maratha youths who died by suicide over the demand for reservation.
He has been on a fast since October 25 at the Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna. This is his second such hunger protest in as many months after he observed a 16 day-fast in September before being hospitalised. Jarange had decided to end the fast at the time after Maharashtra CM Shinde had met him and given reassurance that the government would adhere to the quota demand. He again went on an indefinite strike after his 40-day deadline ended.
(With inputs from agencies)
