Govt should tell why it needs more time to decide on Maratha quota: Manoj Jarange

Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to make it clear whether it is ready to provide reservation to the entire Maratha community and why it needs more time in granting quota to itJarange who has been on an indefinite fast at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district to press for the Maratha quota demand asked the state government how much time does it need to fulfil the demandHe also asked the government to come to the protest site and hold talks with himJarange made the remarks after the government held an allparty meeting in Mumbai earlier in the day to discuss the Maratha quota issue After the meeting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde urged Jarange to withdraw his fast and cooperate with the government and said the state needs some time to prepare for the curative petition filed in the Supreme CourtThe government needs time for legal modalities to implement the reservation Shinde saidReferring to it Jarange said I dont want to know the details of what had happened during the allparty meeting The government says they want time They should tell us how much time it wants and also tell us what the problem is in giving reservation to the Maratha community We will then think about itThe government should have realised it earlier and demanded more time he saidBut the government starts asking for time after 810 days into my agitation They should tell what they are going to do in detail If they are just going to do it for the time being then we will not spare even five minutes for the government he saidJarange had earlier sat on an indefinite fast in the last week of August and called it off on September 14 after CM Shinde assured to look into the demand At that time Jarange had set a deadline of 40 days before the government to fulfil the Maratha quota demandWhen the government took 40 days earlier all parties were there So Marathas now understand that no political party really belongs to them The government should not fool us by just writing papers They should tell us how they are going to give us a reservation he saidThe government should tell why it needs time and whether they are ready to give reservation to the entire Maratha community Then Marathas will think about it he addedThe agitation will not stop and I will stop taking water from this evening They should come and talk till I can speak he warnedWe will continue our fight for reservation in a peaceful manner and the government will not be able to handle this agitation If it wishes to give us reservation it will give This is the power of Marathas he saidJarange continued to target the Shindeled dispensation and asked Can we call it a government that takes care of people Offences are being registered against children of poor peopleThe activist claimed that he was given a message that he should use good language while speaking about political leadersWhen we talk about their leaders they people in the government feel bad and send messages to me How can they see the Maratha youths die he addedThe Maharashtra government on Tuesday published an order asking officials concerned to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes OBC categoryA government resolution GR asked the officials to translate old documents having references to Kunbis and written in Urdu and Modi script which was used to write Marathi language in earlier times These documents are to be digitised attested and then put in public domainHowever Jarange opposed the move saying the entire Maratha community should be given reservationIt the government order is not acceptable and the government should cancel it he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever