Maratha community to hold silent marches in Konkan next week

Mumbai, Sep 20 (PTI) Maratha Surajya Sangh, anorganisation working for the welfare of Maratha community,today announced to hold rallies in three districts of theKonkan region on September 27 to press for various demands. "We have named this silent rally as ‘Maratha KrantiMorcha’ and it would be held on September 27 in threedistricts- Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The objective isto sensitise the government and other machinery about ourdemands," state head of the organisation Pranay Sawant said. He hold Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar responsible for the"plight" of the community, which comprises "33 per cent ofthe total population" in the state. "Pawar is responsible for the backwardness of thecommunity, which comprises one third population of the state.Despite being the most influential leader, he did nothing forhis own brothers and the demand for Maratha reservation took abackseat under his regime," he alleged. The community, which is pre-dominant in Maharashtrapolitics, has been taking out silent marches in various townsin the state over the last one month, following the allegedrape and murder of a girl in Kopardi village in Ahmednagardistrict, two months ago. The victim was a Maratha, while theaccused were Dalits. The community leaders have been demanding scrapping ofthe the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), saying it isgrossly misused, and also reservations for Marathas ineducational institutes and government jobs. On September 3, lakhs of people attended the rally inParbhani and silently protested against the rape and murder ofthe 14-year-old Maratha girl on 13 July. Similar silent protests were held in Jalna and Laturcities yesterday, reportedly attended by several lakhs ofpeople collectively. PTI APM NPAQSSRE