Currency crisis forces Marathas to put off silent protest march in Delhi

Mumbai: The currency crisis has hit the Maratha community protest.

Sakal Maratha Samaj, an umbrella organization of several Maratha groups in Maharashtra, has put off a silent protest march it had planned in New Delhi on 20 November citing the “problems people are facing in exchanging old notes and getting cash in acceptable denominations”.

“While there is no direct connection between demonetization and the Maratha protest, we have taken this decision looking at the difficulties people are facing in exchanging their old notes and withdrawing cash,” said a Samaj member, requesting anonymity.

“Demonetization has also affected services such as transport and healthcare. People have little cash in hand and we thought it would not be proper to organize the protest in this situation,” said the member.

He, however, added that the organization would hold a protest in Delhi on a new date to be announced after the current crisis ebbs.

“We planned to give a memorandum of demands to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We will do this whenever the protest is held,” said the member.

Marathas, who account for 34% of Maharashtra’s population, launched a series of silent protest marches on 9 August.

Also Read: Irrigation could quell the Maratha unrest

While the rape and murder of a Maratha teenager in Ahmednagar district in July was the immediate trigger, the Marathas have also added other grievances to their cause.

A fast-track court in Ahmednagar is hearing the rape and murder case in which the state has named three Dalit men as accused.

The Marathas have demanded death penalty to the culprits.

They have also demanded amendments to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, claiming it is misused against the Marathas, and reservations for the community in government-run and -aided educational institutes and government jobs.

The Marathas have held nearly 35 silent marches across the state, each attended by some 100,000 people, and plan a statewide march in Nagpur on 14 December when the Maharashtra state legislature begins its winter assembly session.