CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR:
Reservation
activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday said either the 'sage soyare' (blood relation) law be passed in two days or else the
Maratha community
would launch a statewide 'Adarsh'
rasta roko agitation
from Saturday. He also threatened a massive roadblock as a show of strength across the state and Mumbai on March 3.
He said community members would go on a
hunger strike
from Thursday next week if the demands were not met by then.
On March 1, there would be a meeting of all incumbent as well as former MLAs and ministers from the community. They would be told to take a public stand in favour of Maratha reservation.
All statements were made during Jarange's public meeting, which lasted two hours on Thursday at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna.
The activist, who has been on a hunger strike since Feb 10, stressed on ensuring a 'peaceful' agitation. He came down heavily on chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
Jarange said the reservation given by state govt through the special session was of the kind that had already been rejected by courts.
"The state must either pass a law recognising 'sage soyare' or pass a govt resolution that Marathas and Kunbis are one," he said.
He warned the state govt that roads in every possible village, taluka, town, district and city as well as state and national highways would be blocked every day from 10.30 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm from Saturday. He said HSC and SSC students heading to and returning from exam centres would not be troubled. He told his supporters to help the examinees reach their centres in time.
The activist told community members not to leave their respective villages and cities and appealed to the police to abstain from registering cases against those blocking roads and highways. He said if the police registered FIRs, all the villagers would go and sit outside the police station.
Jarange also appealed to community members not to allow politicians to campaign for the upcoming elections if their demands were not fulfilled. "The vehicles ... should be seized and returned to politicians only after elections," he said.
The activist told his supporters to make calls to politicians and urge them not to visit their villages for campaigning. He said that an application would be sent to the Election Commission not to hold elections in the state till the issue of Maratha reservation remained unresolved.
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