Maratha agitation: Silent march in Thane, a prelude to Mumbai's rally

The Maratha community on Sunday organised a 'silent march' in Thane district which was joined by minister Eknath Shinde and leaders of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP.

|Oct 16, 2016, 15:35:40 IST

Thane: The Maratha community on Sunday organised a 'silent march' in Thane district which was joined by minister Eknath Shinde and leaders of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP.A day after the 'Maratha kranti silent morcha' in Kolhapur, the community members on Sunday gathered in large numbers at Teen Hath Naka in Thane and marched in rows towards the district collectorate, located about five kms away.[caption id="attachment_3039494" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. PTI[/caption]The participants, carrying saffron flags and several placards for their demands, and children and elders dressed as Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji, walked through the Gokhale road and other main streets of the city.A large number of women and youths also participated in the morcha. Five girls from among the participants led the morcha. Banners and mega hoardings having the slogan 'Ek Maratha, Lakh Maratha' were put up at several places in Thane.Over 1,500 police personnel were deployed to man the crowd. Elaborate security arrangements and traffic diversions were effected by the police in view of the rally.Elaborate arrangements of medical facilities, water supply and parking lots were made for the smooth conduct of the event.Sunday's morcha is said to be a prelude to the rally that will be taken out in Mumbai, the schedule for which has yet not been announced by the community. The girls leading the morcha handed over a memorandum of their demands to Thane Collector Mahendra Kalyankar.Prominent among the politicians who participated in the morcha were Thane Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena MPs Shrikant Shinde and Rajan Vichare, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad, senior Congress leader from the state Sachin Sawant and NCP leader Vasant Davkhare.The Marathas have been demanding quota for community members in government jobs and education, scrapping of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and speedy trial in the Kopardi case wherein a Maratha girl was raped and murdered.

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