Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Tuesday broke his hunger strike after five days as the Maharashtra administration issued a government resolution to give Kunbi status to Marathas of Marathwada, reported ANI.

The Kunbis form a sub-caste within the Maratha community. They are included in the Other Backward Classes.

Accepting the government’s proposal, Jarange-Patil declared victory and said that six out of his eight demands had been met, according to The Indian Express.

He had earlier said that the protesters would leave Mumbai by 9 pm if the Maharashtra government issued the resolution, reported The Times of India.

The activist had on Friday launched an indefinite hunger strike to reiterate his demand for reservations in government jobs and education for the Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category.

Jarange-Patil has demanded that Kunbi caste certificates be provided to all Marathas.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court asked Jarange-Patil and his supporters protesting in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan to vacate all streets and help restore normalcy in the city by Tuesday.

However, on Tuesday, the High Court accepted the protesters’ demand to give them time to speak with the Maharashtra government, reported The Indian Express. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Aarti Sathe allowed them to remain at Azad Maidan till Wednesday.

Later in the day, a delegation of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, head of the cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha quota, and ministers Manikrao Kokate and Shivendra Raje Bhosle met with the protesters.

Following the meeting, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil thanked Jarange-Patil for accepting the government’s proposal and breaking his fast, reported ANI.

This was the ninth protest led by Jarange-Patil in the past two years.

He had begun his march from Maharashtra’s Jalna district on August 27 and arrived at the protest venue in Mumbai with thousands of supporters on Friday morning.

“I am prepared to sacrifice my life, but this time, we will not leave Mumbai without justice,” the activist had said. “They can shoot me or put me in jail, but I won’t leave Mumbai unless our demands are heard and met.”

Quota demand

The Maratha community’s long-standing demand for reservations in education and government jobs resurfaced in 2023 with protests led by Jarange-Patil. The movement witnessed violence, suicides and the resignations of legislators.

In February 2024, Maharashtra’s Legislature passed a bill allowing for the creation of a 10% quota in education and government jobs for the Marathas. This would be in addition to the state’s 52% reservation quota, which includes a 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Section.

In August 2024, justifying its recommendation for the 10% quota for Marathas, the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission told the High Court that the community had been “pushed to the dark edges of mainstream society”.

The introduction of the 10% quota is similar to the 16% reservation for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category that was introduced in 2018 by the state government at the time comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the undivided Shiv Sena.

That decision was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2021, citing the 50% cap on a state’s total reservations that the court had ordered in 1992. The court said that there were no “exceptional circumstances” or “extraordinary situation” in Maharashtra for the state government to breach the limit on reservations.

Jarange-Patil has insisted that reservations for Marathas be given under the Other Backward Classes category, on the grounds that the separate quota exceeds the constitutional ceiling of 50% and would likely be struck down by the judiciary.

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