Activist Manoj Jarange has vowed to stop drinking water from the fourth day of his hunger strike on Monday and brave "bullets" over his demand for reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category
He has demanded the government issue a GR based on the reservation based on available records
For its part, the Maharashtra government on Sunday said it will seek a legal opinion on implementing the Hyderabad gazetteer on the Kunbi status- an OBC caste- for the Maratha community
Jarange, however, remained unimpressed and said he won't budge from the protest venue at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai till his demands are met, even if the Devendra Fadnavis government fires bullets at protesters
He has been staging an indefinite hunger strike at the Azad Maidan from Friday over his demand for a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the OBC category
Asserting he will not leave Mumbai till his demands are met, Jarange on Sunday said, "The government has records of 58 lakh Marathas as Kunbis"
"From tomorrow (Monday), I will stop taking water as the government is not accepting the demands. But I am not going back till the quota demand is met. We will get the reservation for Marathas under the OBC category no matter what," the activist told his supporters
"The government should say that Marathas are a sub-caste of Kunbis. There are 58 lakh records that have been found, which show links of Marathas as Kunbis. Those who want a reservation will take it. Don't generalise Marathas as Kunbis if there is a legal issue," Jarange told a press conference on Sunday night
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