Maratha quota stir: Mumbai Police denies permission for protest at Azad Maidan

The Mumbai Police on Thursday denied Maratha reservations activist Manoj Jarange-Patil the permission to hold a protest and hunger strike at Azad Maidan in the city, The Indian Express reported.

Jarange-Patil began the Maratha Aarakshan Morcha, or the Maratha reservations march, to Mumbai from his village Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district on January 20. The march was to reach Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on Friday. The activist has said that he will begin his hunger strike from Friday.

The Maratha community’s long-standing demand for reservations in education and government jobs resurfaced last year with protests and hunger strikes by Jarange-Patil. The agitation has witnessed violence, suicides and the resignation of legislators.