After Mumbai Police denied permission to continue the agitation, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who has been on a hunger strike for the last five days, said on Tuesday that even if he dies, he will not leave the protest site at Azad Maidan.
As the state government has been directed to take steps to stop protestors from entering Mumbai in the future, Jarange warned Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, stating, “My request to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is that you will not be able to withstand the public outcry that is coming on Tuesday. Even if I die, I will not rise from this ground. Even if I die, you keep silent,” according to the news agency ANI.
Mumbai Police denied permission to continue the agitation and ordered protestors to vacate Azad Maidan, citing violations of the terms and conditions laid out by the Bombay High Court and police for holding the protest. Jarange warned that it would be “costly” for the government to evict protestors, while expressing hope for justice.
He said, “We believe in the God of Justice… We are 100 per cent confident that justice will be served. There is no traffic anywhere in Mumbai right now. Our kids have parked their cars in all the parking lots. It will be costly for the government to evict us from Azad Maidan. For the last two years, we have been protesting peacefully. Our protest is within the law. We hope the court will give justice in our favour. As soon as the court order came, we removed the vehicles. Now there is no traffic jam anywhere in Mumbai. We will get 100 per cent justice. We are protesting democratically,” reported news agency ANI.
Patil asserted that protestors will not leave Mumbai until their demands are met. “We will not leave Mumbai unless the demands are implemented. Divine justice has given us justice so far and will give us justice now, too. We will not leave Mumbai unless the Hyderabad Gazette is implemented. We are peacefully sitting on a hunger strike. We said at night, remove the cars from the road and put them in the field, after which our boys removed all the cars within four to five hours. What more can be done than this? We are the guardians of the law and divine justice,” he added, reported ANI.
Jarange’s hunger strike at Azad Maidan entered its fifth day on Tuesday, with a large number of followers gathered at the site. Authorities have asked his core committee to vacate Azad Maidan as soon as possible. This comes after the Bombay High Court on Monday directed protestors to clear all streets in Mumbai by Tuesday noon.
In an urgent hearing, the court said permission for the protest had been granted with conditions that were violated, resulting in the city coming to a standstill. “Since respondents have, prima facie, violated the conditions of the permission granted to them by the State Government, and since they do not have any valid permission to continue the protest at Azad Maidan, let the State Government follow due procedure laid down in law for initiating appropriate steps,” the court stated.
The court further observed, “Since it is of imminent necessity that normalcy in the life of the common man needs to be restored and the city should not be brought to a standstill, and more so during the Ganpati Festival as well, and since 2025 Rules are in place, we direct respondents to ensure that the streets are cleaned up and vacated of the occupation by protesters, which would include all such places being occupied until tomorrow forenoon,” reported ANI.
Additionally, the High Court directed the state government to prevent more protestors from entering Mumbai from all entry points and to ensure adequate medical assistance for Jarange and others on strike.
Azad Maidan has been witnessing thousands from the Maratha community pressing for their long-pending demand of 10 per cent OBC reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The agitation intensified after Jarange vowed not to drink water until the demands were met, mounting pressure on the Mahayuti government.
In response, the government has formed a 10-member ministerial committee led by Maharashtra Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to hold talks with stakeholders. Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has extended solidarity with the protesters, while the ruling BJP has accused the opposition of “politicising” the issue.
(With ANI inputs)
