Mumbai: A mammoth rally by members of the powerful Maratha community demanding reservation in jobs and educational institutions brought Mumbai to a standstill on Wednesday.
More than 600,000 people from across Maharashtra converged in the country’s financial centre to hold a silent protest.
Nearly 10,000 police personnel, drones and CCTV cameras monitored the movement of the 58th rally held by this influential community, which in the past one year had held such agitations in various part of the state.
The protests picked up momentum following the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old Maratha girl in Kopardi in Ahmednagar district in July 2016.
Among the several demands of the Maratha Kranti (revolution) Morcha (agitation) include an amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, meant at protecting this section of society from caste atrocities.
The grouse of Maratha caste organisations is that this Act is misused to implicate people in false cases.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced waivers for education for Maratha students and assured a speedy closure to the Kopardi case.
Anticipating a big turnout, the authorities took all measures to ensure there was no law and order problem. Protesters reached the city by all entry points which resulted in traffic jams in South Mumbai and Byculla — from where the morcha began.
The meeting point was Azad Maidan, traditionally a huge venue for agitations. However, an additional gate had to be opened and the ground widened to accommodate the mammoth crowd.
Interestingly, almost all political parties have lent support to the Marathas who comprise 32 per cent of the state’s population.
Many Mumbaikars skipped work or did not travel and yet Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus was packed with people, both within and outside, with not an inch of space to move. Over 3,500 volunteers cleaned up the trash left behind.
Luckily, all schools and colleges in south Mumbai were ordered shut by Education Minister Vinod Tawde.