OBC leaders targeting Marathas, claims quota activist Jarange

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Quota activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday alleged that OBC leaders were targeting Marathas by getting false offences registered against them and said Maratha leaders should stand with the youth of the community.

Jarange’s statement comes a day after Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal said “backdoor” attempts to grant reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category will be opposed and violence and pressure tactics will not be tolerated.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Jarange claimed the minister’s visit to Beed was to target the Marathas.

“Cases are being registered against Marathas who have been agitating peacefully. Maratha leaders in the state should look into this and stand with the youth,” he said. Jarange has been demanding reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and education under the OBC category.

Bhujbal earlier said a hotel in Beed was vandalised for an hour in the presence of two policemen who were helpless to stop the vandals and the residence of senior leader Jaydatta Kshirsagar was torched even though he had not said anything about the Maratha quota issue.

Dismissing the claims, Jarange said the hotel in Beed was vandalised by people known to the owner and they have been arrested. Jarange further claimed that OBC leaders were misusing their posts to “trap” the Marathas and “harass them through a conspiracy”. The community cannot be suppressed, he asserted.

Jarange appealed to the Maratha community to start chain hunger strikes in villages of the state and ensure that by December 1 such agitations cover all village.