Jarange Sets Off for Mumbai Despite Police Nod Refusal, Eyes Azad Maidan on Sept 19
Manoj Jarange left Antarwali Sarati for Mumbai on Tuesday, 17 days into his hunger strike, after police denied him permission to protest at Azad Maidan.
Fasting Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange set out for Mumbai from Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on Tuesday morning, pressing ahead with his protest plans even after Mumbai Police refused him permission to demonstrate at Azad Maidan.
The police cited law and order concerns during the ongoing Ganesh festival in turning down the request. Mr. Jarange has been on a hunger strike for 17 days, demanding Other Backward Class quota status for Maratha community members who can establish Kunbi caste genealogies.
Although he remained defiant, the activist scaled back his earlier plan to bring Maratha community members from across Maharashtra to the capital. He is now travelling with a select group of five to ten associates under tight security.
Looking frail and slumped in the front seat of a car, and dressed in his customary white shirt and trousers, Mr. Jarange pointed to the Bombay High Court's refusal to restrain him from protesting in Mumbai. He said nothing mattered to him more than his community, adding that he would either die for it or secure reservation for it. He also said the court had observed that a person agitating democratically cannot be stopped, and that the judiciary was with the movement.
Mr. Jarange repeated his claim that a conspiracy had been hatched to kill him. He asked whether Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wanted him shot, said he was coming alone, and asserted that he would not allow any betrayal of the Maratha community even if he were killed.
Mr. Fadnavis and other state cabinet ministers have repeatedly urged him to call off the hunger strike, stating that the government is open to discussions and would accept demands that are legally valid.
The carcade is expected to pass through Patoda in Beed, Srigonda in Ahilyanagar, Hadapsar in Pune and Khopoli in Raigad district before reaching Azad Maidan in Mumbai on September 19.
Before departing, Mr. Jarange underwent a health check-up in the morning, paid obeisance to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and visited two temples in the village.
Security has been tightened along the Antarwali Sarati-Shahagad route, with 648 personnel deployed, including three sub-divisional police officers, ten inspectors, 30 assistant and sub-inspectors, 300 police personnel, 265 home guards and two platoons of the Rapid City Police. Sensitive points along the route have been reinforced.
His convoy comprises two SUVs and as many ambulances. Protection for the activist has been bolstered with personnel from the Additional Special Protection Unit of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, besides two bodyguards provided by Jalna police.
Jalna DYSP Siddheshwar Dhumal said traffic was being managed along with local and highway police, and that the arrangements would hold even if the number of vehicles in the convoy grew.