Maratha, Dhangar and some other communities in Maharashtra are continuously protesting for reservation. The Maratha community took out peaceful marches. There was lathi charge on the crowd demanding Maratha reservation. Regarding this, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has targeted Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis. He compared the lathi charge on people demanding Maratha reservation to the Jallianwala Bagh incident. Sanjay Raut said that who is General Dyer who ordered the lathicharge on the Maratha community? Sanjay Raut said that there is no chance of a just demand for reservation for the Maratha community, but the triple engine government of Shinde-Fadnavis in Maharashtra has done the monstrous task of rubbing salt on the wounds of the Maratha community by inhumane lathi charge and firing on the protesters on this issue.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that what happened in Antarwali Sarti village of Jalna district is disturbing. The police surrounded the Maratha protestors from all sides as if they were attacked by extremists or Naxalites. He said that it was the inhuman attack on the Maratha protestors. Sanjay Raut said that the police lathicharge was so indiscriminate that the police did not realize that they were beheading innocent women, children and the elderly. The purpose of this horrific attack was to remind of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre carried out by the British in Amritsar during the freedom struggle. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the Jalna lathicharge would be investigated through Additional Director General of Police Sanjay Saxena. He also said that if necessary, a judicial inquiry will be conducted into this incident. But who is this General Dyer who ordered firing even before interrogation?
Raut said that in view of the excessive use of force by the police during this period, does the Shinde government and Fadnavis’s Home Ministry want to set Maharashtra on fire on the issue of Maratha reservation? Such a question has arisen for the peacefully protesting Maratha community and the people of Maharashtra. He said that because they had to attack with sticks and fire, nothing happened in between.
Sanjay Raut said that the Maratha community in Marathwada was getting reservation during the Nizam rule. The main demand of the protesters was to bring back reservation and despite police violence, the hunger strike for this demand is still going on. The Shinde government has appointed a committee regarding this demand; But the protesters were angry that the meeting of this committee was not even taking place. On 30 August, protesters spoke to the Chief Minister’s office. Manoj told Jarange Patil that the Chief Minister tells within five minutes what the committee has done, but instead of receiving the Chief Minister’s call the next day, the police force reached the protest site.
Shiv Sena spokesperson said that the police first tried to detain the hunger strikers on the pretext of ill health. For two consecutive days, the police was chasing them to break their hunger strike, but the villagers and protesters recognized this step of the police. Jarange and his companions told the police, ‘My health is fine, I will not come anywhere and end the protest.’
At the same time, due to opposition from the women and villagers present at the protest site, the police officers pretended to retreat. The officers left saying that the police will not force you to pick them up from here. So the protesters remained helpless. By the time it was understood that the Fadnavis police intended to ignore the protesters, a team of 150 policemen began indiscriminate lathicharge at the protest site.
