Janjivan Bureau / Mumbai : The Maratha Kranti Morcha, an outfit spearheading agitation for quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education, called off its Mumbai bandh on Wednesday. The bandh in the financial capital of India, which began this morning, was called off just before 3 pm after various parts saw violence.
“We only wanted to prove that we are together and proved it. We never wanted protests to get violent and therefore we are calling off our bandh in Mumbai for today,” Virendra Pawar, leader of the Morcha told reporters here.
The Maratha Kranti Morcha had given the call for the bandh, demanding an apology from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for alleging that some members from the community were planning violence at Pandharpur town in Solapur district.
Fadnavis, who was scheduled to perform puja at a temple on ‘Ashadhi Ekadashi’ on Monday, cancelled it after the Maratha outfits threatened to disrupt the event.
Quotas for Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 per cent of the state’s population, has been a hugely contentious issue.
The community leaders had earlier taken out several rallies in various districts to highlight their demands. Last year, a huge rally was organised by the Maratha Kranti Morcha in this connection in Mumbai.
Violence mars bandh
Earlier today, violence marred the bandh as protesters threw stones at policemen in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai township and Satara district, injuring three personnel.
The police retaliated and cane-charged protesters, fired plastic bullets and lobbed tear gas shells at them, an official said.
Satara’s Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil sustained a minor injury while two policemen were injured at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai, he said.
Protesters who gathered at Kalamboli blocked the Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Pune highways, he said.
The policemen deployed at the spot tried to take them away as the traffic was blocked because of the protest.
Some persons in the crowd then started throwing stones at the policemen, injuring two personnel, the official said.
Protesters also set afire two police vans in the area, he said.
The police then cane-charged the protesters, lobbed tear gas shells at them and also fired plastic bullets in the air, he said.
Additional police force was called at the spot, he said, adding that the situation in the area was tense.
The traffic movement from Mumbai to Pune and Goa was affected due to the protests at Vashi, Kharghar, Kalamboli and Palaspe, he said.
In Satara district, police cane-charged protesters who blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway at Bombay Restaurant Chowk and threw stones at the policemen, SP Sandeep Patil said.
Tear gas shells were also lobbed at the pro-quota agitators, said Patil, who was injured in the stone-pelting.
A few vehicles were also set afire by the angry protesters in Satara, a police official said.
Meanwhile, the local train services on the trans-harbour line (between Thane and Vashi) were affected for over an hour in the afternoon as protesters halted trains at Ghansoli station, he said.
In the morning also, the movement of trains was disrupted at Ghansoli, he said.
The Mumbai-Goa highway was also blocked near Palaspe at Panvel in Raigad district by protesters.
The Sion-Panvel highway was blocked for some time at Kharghar and Vashi, but the police removed protesters from the road, the official said.
Some agitators burnt tyres at Majiwada in the neighbouring Thane city and auto-rickshaw drivers staged protests at the Nitin Junction, another official said.
In Mumbai, the Western Express Highway witnessed traffic jams due to protests near Jogeshwari flyover and Kandivali.
Sena demands ordinance
With Aurangabad emerging as the epicentre of the Maratha agitation, a Shiv Sena MLC joined the stir, demanding an ordinance for the quota and threatening to resign by 4 pm today if no decision was taken on the issue forthwith.
Sena MLC Harshwardhan Jadhav, who represents the Kannad constituency in Aurangabad in the state’s in Marathwada region, staged a protest outside the collector’s office on Wednesday and demanded that the government bring an ordinance to provide reservation to the community.
“I have urged the government to bring an ordinance and call a special session of the state legislature to discuss the issue and give reservation to the community,” he told reporters here.“Both Maharashtra and the Centre are ruled by the same party (BJP), so there will no problem in getting clearance for the ordinance.” He said, giving the governments until 4 pm to take a decision.
“If no decision is taken in this connection till 4 pm today, I will resign as the member of the Legislative Council,” he said.
Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire and Congress MLC Subhash Jhambad were manhandled yesterday during the last rites of one of the protesters, Kakasaheb Shinde (27).
Shinde had jumped to death from a bridge over the Godavari river in Aurangabad on Monday.
Another protester, Jagannath Sonawane, 55, consumed a poisonous substance yesterday during the agitation. He died at the Government Medical College and Hospital here on Wednesday morning.
Aurangabad Superintendent of Police Arti Singh claimed he was not a part of the protest and killed himself over domestic issues.
Besides, protester Jayendra Dwarkadas Sonawane (28), who jumped from the bridge on river Venganga on Nashik-Aurangabad road yesterday, was undergoing treatment in a hospital.
Another agitator, Amol Jagtap (26), from Latur district had set himself ablaze but was over-powered by the police.
He was undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Latur for his injuries.
Amid the protests, Shyam Lakhan Kadgaonkar, a head constable from Osmanabad, died on Wednesday near Shinde’s funeral venue.
“We are awaiting an autopsy report. Some injury marks were seen on his hands and legs,” a police official had earlier said, adding another constable got injured there in stone pelting.
Protesters had torched at fire brigade van and a state transport (ST) bus during Tuesday’s agitation.
Internet services were also suspended in rural areas of Aurangabad district on Tuesday to prevent any untoward incident.
As the stir for reservation in jobs and education intensified, the Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation, called for a shutdown in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Quotas for Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 per cent of the state’s population, has been a hugely contentious issue.
