Silent protest march by Marathas in Amravati tomorrow

Amravati (Maha), Sep 21 (PTI) Members of the Marathacommunity will take out a silent kranti morcha here tomorrowdemanding reservations in educational institutes andgovernment jobs. The community, pre-dominant in Maharashtra politics,has been taking out silent marches in various towns of thestate over last one month, following the rape and murder of agirl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district two months back. Thevictim girl was a Maratha, while the culprits were Dalits. According to the organisers, nearly five lakhcommunity members are expected to take part in the morcha thatwill begin from Nehru maidan here at 11 AM tomorrow. "The morcha is not against any caste but against thetendency involved in Kopardi case," the organisers said at apress conference here. A team of 750 dedicated volunteers has been formed forthe security of the morcha. The organisers said college youths alone would leadthe morcha as there would be no political or other leadersinvolved in the march. They said schools and colleges here have beenrequested to declare a holiday tomorrow. Earlier, the Maratha rallies in Akola, Latur andNanded drew huge crowds. The community leaders have been demanding scrapping ofthe SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), saying that it isgrossly misused, and also reservations for Marathas ineducational institutes and government jobs. PTI CORR GK BSABAS