Mumbai: Over the last few days, hundreds of protesters, led by Manoj Jarange-Patil, a local Maratha leader, have been sitting on a hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati village demanding reservations for the Maratha community in education and government jobs. It was only after his health deteriorated on the fourth day of the fast-unto-death agitation, that police intervened in the agitation on Friday and the lathi charge that followed it stirred the state politics.
Manoj Jarange-Patil had been active in the Maratha agitation in the state since past several years. Jarange-Patil hails from Matori village of Beed district. However, he shifted base to Ankush Nagar village of Ambad taluka of Jalna district since the past few years, where he stays along with father-mother, three brothers, wife and four children.
Manoj Jarange-Patil
A 12th standard dropout, Manoj Jarange-Patil hails from a very humble background. After leaving education halfway he started working at a local hotel and got engaged with the Maratha community activities. He has been involved in the Maratha agitation since over a decade and led the agitation in Jalna district between 2016 and 18.
Though he came from a very humble background, Manoj Jarange-Patil offered his everything for the community agitation. He owned Four acres of ancestral land of which he sold off 2 acres to be able to work for the community, his friends said.
Jarange-Patil participated in more than 30 agitations for Maratha quota since 2011. In 2014 he led a huge rally at the Aurangabad divisional headquarters which established his identity as the front leader of the Maratha agitation across the state.
Manoj Jarange-Patil founded Shivba
He formed the ‘Shivba’ organization to fight for the Maratha community’s rights. In 2021 he led a sit-down protest at Pimpalgaon in Jalna district for over 3 months. He had also resorted to hunger strikes to ensure kin of martyrs of Maratha agitation were adequately compensated. The accused in the Kopardi rape and murder case (Which led to Maratha agitation in 2016) were beaten up in the court. Jarange-Patil’s Shivba organization was named in the case. Jarange-Patil also led a stir with a demand that the accused of the Kopardi case be punished with a death sentence.
