Jalna (Maha), June 22 (PTI) Activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare on Saturday ended their hunger strike over the demand that OBC quota should not be diluted after meeting a Maharashtra government delegation.
The duo had launched the indefinite fast on June 13 as a counter to Maratha activist Manoj Jarange’s demand that Marathas should get reservation in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.
“We are temporarily suspending our protest. If our demands are not met, we will resume it,” Hake told reporters at Wadigodri village in Jalna district of central Maharashtra after meeting the delegation.
A “white paper” should be issued about objections to the government’s draft notification which seeks to give Kunbi certificates to `sage-soyare’ or kin of Marathas who have already established their Kunbi status, he said. Kunbis are an agrarian OBC community.
The 12-member delegation included ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Atul Save, Girish Mahajan, Dhananjay Munde, Uday Samant and Member of Legislative Council Gopichand Padalkar.
Bhujbal, himself a prominent OBC leader, told reporters that Hake and Waghmare were invited to the all-party meeting called by the government on June 29 on the quota issue.
It was decided at a meeting called by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai on Friday that OBC quota will not be touched, and action would be taken against fake Kunbi certificates issued to some Marathas, he said.
Jarange and his associates have been seeking Kunbi caste certificates for Marathas, a demand OBC leaders are opposing.
Bhujbal urged the Maratha community to demand a separate reservation in government jobs and education rather than claiming the OBC status.
“Do not take our share,” the senior NCP leader said, asserting that reservation is meant for removal of social backwardness and not for poverty alleviation.
He also praised his cabinet colleague Girish Mahajan for stating that the draft notification on `sage-soyare’ would not stand legal scrutiny.
Asking OBC communities to stay united, Bhujbal averred that “we will not tolerate injustice.” He also alleged that `certain individuals’ conspired to defeat BJP candidate and OBC leader Pankaja Munde in the Beed Lok Sabha constituency. Munde lost to her nearest NCP (SP) rival.
Bhujbal also reiterated the demand of caste census, and claimed that deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported it.
“We demand caste census and reservation in state assemblies and Parliament as per our population, which is 54 percent,” he said.
Jarange “does not know what he is talking about,” the senior leader said. PTI COR KRK
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