The Maharashtra government’s decision to accept the second and third reports of the Justice Sandeep Shinde committee marks a critical moment in the state’s efforts to walk the tightrope of the Maratha reservation in an election year. The committee, established to determine the protocol for issuing Kunbi-Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi certificates based on historical records, aims to include sections of the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. The Kunbis, traditionally an agrarian group, are already classified as OBCs in Maharashtra. The challenge for the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti coalition has been (and will be) in expanding this categorization to appease the Maratha community without alienating the OBC groups ahead of the crucial Assembly election.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s six hunger strikes since last September turned the spotlight on the Maratha quota issue. With the cabinet’s acceptance of the Shinde committee’s recommendations, the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category should now bring closure to the year-long agitation. It is to be hoped that Jarange-Patil will be finally placated and stop demanding further entitlements which can only prolong the unrest and deepen the state’s caste divisions.
The repeated protests have not only tested the government’s patience but also inflicted considerable hardship on ordinary citizens, especially in the Marathwada region. The strikes and demonstrations, which have often turned violent, have disrupted daily life across Maharashtra, aggravating caste tensions and threatening administrative stability. While it is easy for rabble rousers like Jarange-Patil to rally crowds and ignite passions, it is the ordinary people who ultimately pay the price for any protracted unrest.
Worse still, these protests have led to deep caste schisms in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region where historical tensions between caste groups have long festered. The Maratha quota issue, and the OBC backlash, have seen some incendiary rhetoric which have literally translated into incendiary action.
The Maratha community’s aspirations for inclusion and economic upliftment are understandable, but these goals should not be achieved at the expense of social harmony. Figures like Jarange Patil are skilled at turning such issues into high-stakes, emotive dramas, capitalizing on popular anxieties of a community. His appeal to Marathas and farmers to gather en masse for the Dussehra upcoming rally is yet another instance of his ability to galvanize support through a show of strength, even when the real issues have largely been addressed by a government that has understandably bowed to electoral pressure. The Mahayuti, already smarting from a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha election, has walked gingerly in handling the Maratha quota issue. Now, Maharashtra’s diverse social fabric cannot withstand endless agitations that pit caste against caste, each vying for a larger slice of the pie.
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