Eighteen-year-old Dwarkadhish Gund, a junior college student, has been here since August 27 with his relatives. “I have decided not to go back to college till this agitation ends. If we want a better future, reservation is the only way,” he declares
Protesters pose in front of a poster of Manoj Jarange
At first glance, it looks like a village fair with tempos stacked with rations and cars lined up outside the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai, but for these Maratha protesters from Beed, over 400 km away, this is no picnic. It is a fight they say they will not abandon until the reservation is granted.
Eighteen-year-old Dwarkadhish Gund, a junior college student, has been here since August 27 with his relatives. “I have decided not to go back to college till this agitation ends. If we want a better future, reservation is the only way,” he declares.
A tempo stacked with rations for the protesters
Alongside him is his friend Kiran Bhosale, 18, who adds, “We are young, but our lives are stuck. Even after scoring good marks, we don’t get opportunities. That is why we are standing with our elders in this fight.”
For Sarveshwar Patekar, 26, the preparation is almost military-style. Opening the back of a tempo in Ulwe Sector-17, where the group was having breakfast, he proudly shows sacks of ration and buckets of water. “We have stocked food for a month. We even wash our clothes in this tempo itself. We are fully prepared. This protest is not ending in a few days,” he says.
Protesters on a local train
Madhav Patekar nods in agreement. “Our parents are farmers. They have come too, despite their age. If people in their 50s and 60s can join, how can we youths sit at home?”
The highlight of the group, though, is Mayur Gund, 30, who works at a private bank in Pune. He has taken a 15-day ‘mandatory leave’ to join the Maratha Morcha in Navi Mumbai.
Pune banker Mayur Gund who has taken leave to join the protest. Pics/Amarjeet Singh
“I don’t enjoy working at a private bank. My father sold one acre of land for my education, and I attempted MPSC [Maharashtra Public Service Commission] three times. I got 80-90 per cent marks but still couldn’t succeed. OBC candidates with 60-70 per cent marks get through, but we don’t, even with higher scores. Their fees are Rs 10,000; ours is R2 lakh. How will a farmer’s son afford that? Reservation is the answer. My father, a farmer, sold an acre of land for my education. If we had a reservation, I would have been an IAS officer today,” Mayur says, his voice firm.
His younger brother, Vilas Gund, chips in at Nerul station while boarding a train to Azad Maidan. He said, “The government cut our water supply, so some of us even bathed using Bisleri bottles. But we will manage. We even brought water from our villages. This time, we are not moving till we get justice.”
Dilip Patil and Vishal Gund echo the sentiment, saying, “This is not just about education or jobs; it is about dignity. We want equality.”
Every day, protesters like them take trains from CBD Belapur, Nerul, Juinagar and Vashi to Mumbai. Even luxury malls and hotels have witnessed their presence.
As Vilas says, “The government can try to stop us, but we will manage. We have even brought drinking water from our village. We went to the Taj hotel, Inorbit Mall in Vashi and Grand Central Mall in Seawoods. Nobody stopped us. We will not move until we get justice.”
Some of the protesters have parked their cars, tempos and trucks outside the CIDCO office in Navi Mumbai, while some have been commuting daily to Azad Maidan by train. Railway stations like CBD Belapur, Nerul, Juinagar and Vashi saw unusually crowded trains on Sunday, packed with protesters heading to Mumbai.
A farmer points out, “There are nearly 7000 people here, but only 200 toilets. We are forced to use nearby commercial buildings. Others complain of water shortage. In one of the more unusual sights, some protesters were seen bathing using Bisleri bottles after the state’s water supply was cut.”
From farmers to college students to bankers, the Maratha protest has become a movement of grit. Their message is simple: this time, they will not go back empty-handed.
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