With no solution yet to the continued unrest among the Marathas over reservations, the shepherd community members—better known as Dhangars – revived their agitation on Monday, staging dharnas and “rasta rokos” at various places across Maharashtra to demand quota in jobs and education under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
The Dhangars, who had resorted to a massive agitation in the run-up to the 2014 State Assembly polls, were back on the streets across the State, demanding their inclusion under the ST category on the ground that they are traditionally regarded nomadic tribes.
The Dhangar activists across the State responded in a big way to the agitation call given by the Dhangar Sangharsh Samiti Maharashtra Rajya (DSSMR).
Though no violence was reported from any part of the state during the day-long agitation called by the DSSMR, the Dhangars made their presence felt by taking out morchas and resorting to dharnas and road blockades in places like Vasai, Alibaug, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Kolhapur, Nashik, Nagpur, Amravati, Dhule,Jalna, Parbhani and latur. In essence, they staged protests in all the regions of the State.
At Vasai in Palghar district, the Dhangar community members – who took out a morcha to press for their demand – upped the ante when they threatened to barge into the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, if the Maharashtra Government did not announce reservations for their community in jobs and education by August 25.
The protesters resorted to “rasta-rokos” along Ahmednagar-Manmad highway, Solapur-Karad road, Malegaon-Nandgaon road, Nagpur-Wardha highway, Amravati-Nagpur highway, Aurangabad-Phaitan highway, Jalna-Aurangabad road and latur-Bidar highway. They also staged dharnas at many places.
During the day-long agitation, the police detained scores of protesters, including MP Vikas Mahame (near Nagpur), and released them later in the evening.
Apart from demanding reservations in jobs and education under the ST category, the Dhangars are opposing the possible inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category – as a way out of the situation arising out of the ongoing agitation by the politically dominant Marathas demanding reservations in jobs and education.
The Dhangars’ predicament has over the years been that despite having been categorised under the Vimukti Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT), they have not been enjoying the benefits of reservations all because of a typographical error in caterogisation. Though the Centre has accorded them ST status to their community, it has misspelt Dhangars as Dhangads – a faux pas that is coming in the way of their enjoying the reserved category benefits.
It may be recalled that after the previous Congress-led DF Government announced 16 per cent reservations to powerful Maratha community and 5 per cent reservation for Muslims, on June 25, 2014, the Dhanagar community members had taken to streets on August 8, 2014 in various parts of Baramati lok Sabha constituency represented over the years by the Pawar family.
There are an estimated five lakh Dhangar community voters in Baramati lok Sabha constituency, of which Indapur is one of the Assembly segments.
The Baramati lok Sabha constituency was the epi-centre of an agitation by the Dhangar community members. The then Opposition BJP and two its allies in the “Maha-Yuti” --Swabhimani Paksha and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha – had thrown their weight behind the Dhangar community.