After Maratha row, Banjaras demand ST quota in Maharashtra

MUMBAI : After the mahratta and OBC (Other backwards Classes) collide, the similar pattern of rubbing brewing betwixt the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Banjaras has intensified, with numerous individual and collective protests on the part of the Banjara community aimed at getting inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category for reservation in education and jobs.On Saturday, a 32-year-old graduate from the community hanged himself at his residence at Umarga in Dharashiv. In his suicide note, the deceased, who was unemployed and had participated in the protest held in Jintur three days earlier, demanded that the community be granted reservation benefits under the Hyderabad Gazette.Two Banjara youths, Shrikant Rathod and Harish Rathod, have also been on an indefinite hunger strike outside the collector’s office in Jalna from September 11.“We will not give up until our demands are met,” Shrikant told Hindustan Times.The community has also planned big morchas in Jalna and Beed on September 15. “The entire community has united for its rights,” said Haribhau Rathod, senior leader from the Banjara community.Citing the Hyderabad Gazette, based on which the Mahayuti government issued a GR on September 2 to include Marathas in the OBC category, Banjaras pointed out that Gazette records placed their community in the ST category, and they should thus get the benefit of the ST quota. The Marathwada region was under Nizam rule before Independence, and the land and other records of the former princely state were documented in the Hyderabad Gazette.Meanwhile, leaders from the ST community are up in arms regarding the Banjaras’ demand. Shiv Sena MLA Amshya Padavi claimed that he was willing to resign from the government on the issue and added that he could not remain silent in the face of attempts to encroach on his community’s quota. Congress leader Padmakar Valvi also opposed any move to include Banjaras in the ST category, saying that the community was already getting 3% reservation under the Vimukta Jati or nomadic tribes category.After MLAs Dhananjay Munde and Vijaysinh Pandit, Indraneel Naik, another NCP leader and minister of state in the Mahayuti government, extended his support to the Banjara demand. “It is a fact that the Banjara community comes under the ST category in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The decision was taken based on the Hyderabad Gazette,” said Naik, who is also a Banjara. “The community is a homogenous one throughout the country when it comes to cuisine and dialects.”ST leaders, including those in the government, have strongly opposed the Banjara demand, as they believe that it will reduce their share of the pie.“How do I remain silent when someone is looking to intrude on my quota?” said Padavi. “If it comes to that, I will exit the government but will not allow either the Dhangars or Banjaras into the ST community.”The OBC community, meanwhile, is all set to open a front against the state government for issuing a GR to give Kunbi certificates to Marathas. On Saturday, Vijay Wadettiwar, legislative party chief of the Congress, called a meeting of OBC leaders at which they decided to hold a morcha in Nagpur on October 10. The morcha will start from Yashwant Stadium and culminate at Samvidhan Chowk.“Let the government claim that it will not affect us but the fact is that the OBC quota has been badly affected,” said OBC leader Wadettiwar in Nagpur after the meeting.“The GR makes the motive of this government clear, which is to harm OBC interests. Hence, we have decided to hold a huge morcha in Nagpur.”This is likely to be the first major protest by the OBC community.On Wednesday, a 35-year-old man from the OBC community also allegedly died by suicide in Latur district, fearing that OBC reservations would be wiped out following the GR accepting the Hyderabad Gazette.