Maratha quota row: Manoj Jarange Patil ends hunger strike after Maha govt agrees to implement Hyderabad Gazette
In a breakthrough in the Maratha quota agitation, the Maharashtra government has agreed to Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil's primary demand to implement the Hyderabad Gazette, which identifies Marathas belonging to the Kunbi peasant community and allows for reservations in jobs and education.
The Devendra Fadnavis government has agreed to withdraw all cases filed against those protesting for reservation.
Following a meeting with a cabinet sub-committee, Patil said that once the government issues a resolution, his supporters will vacate the protest site at Azad Maidan in Mumbai by 9 pm.
Hours after the announcement, he ended his 5-day fast, saying, "We have won". He was seen having water offered by Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhepatil to end his hunger strike.
Patil was on a hunger strike to demand reservations in jobs and education for Marathas belonging to the Marathwada and western Maharashtra region.
The government has assured him that it is taking proactive steps to address the reservation issue.
A cabinet sub-committee met Patil at the protest site on Tuesday.
Ministers Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Manikrao Kokate, Shivendra Raje Bhosale are among those present in the meeting, which was the first such communication between the state government and the quota agitation leader.
Patil said the cabinet sub-committee has agreed to implement the Hyderabad Gazette to fulfill the Maratha reservation demand.
He has been insistent about the Hyderabad Gazette as he considers it undeniable proof that Marathas in the Marathwada region were officially recorded as Kunbis, a peasant caste.
This document helps him position the reservation not as a political move, but as a restoration of a historical identity.
In Maharashtra, the Kunbi community is entitled to reservation under the OBC category. For the Maratha reservation issue, the Hyderabad Gazette is relevant since the Marathwada region of present-day Maharashtra was part of the Hyderabad State.
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