Silent protest march by Marathas in Amravati tomorrow

Amravati (Maha), Sep 21: Members of the Maratha community will take out a silent kranti morcha here tomorrow demanding reservations in educational institutes and government jobs.

The community, pre-dominant in Maharashtra politics, has been taking out silent marches in various towns of the state over last one month, following the rape and murder of a girl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district two months back.

The victim girl was a Maratha, while the culprits were Dalits. According to the organisers, nearly five lakh community members are expected to take part in the morcha that will begin from Nehru maidan here at 11 AM tomorrow.

"The morcha is not against any caste but against the tendency involved in Kopardi case," the organisers said at a press conference here. A team of 750 dedicated volunteers has been formed for the security of the morcha.

The organisers said college youths alone would lead the morcha as there would be no political or other leaders involved in the march. They said schools and colleges here have been requested to declare a holiday tomorrow.

Earlier, the Maratha rallies in Akola, Latur and Nanded drew huge crowds. The community leaders have been demanding scrapping of the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), saying that it is grossly misused, and also reservations for Marathas in educational institutes and government jobs.

PTI