Maratha job reservation agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil met students protesting in Jantar Mantar on Wednesday and assured them that if there is further police brutality against them, BJP leaders will find it difficult to move around in Maharashtra and that Marathas will march towards Delhi when the time is right.
Interacting with students at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, Jarange urged them to stand firm in this fight. “Through the Maratha reservation agitation, we have shown how powerful a peaceful movement can be. We are also with you. However, do not leave the protest site under any circumstances. If you leave Jantar Mantar, the government will weaken your movement. Protest peacefully and do not leave this place no matter what happens,” he advised the protesters.
“When we Marathas protested in Antarwali Sarati village, the police attacked the children of the poor people, their mothers, girls and the elderly there too. They even used bullets. My only request to the students is that you should not leave this place. The entire country is behind you. If you go elsewhere, the government will break your protest. We have elected this government, but this is what they have done to our children. They do not realise that the students and the poor people have the power to bring their misrule to an end,” Jarange Patil said.
Jarange Patil assured the Jantar Mantar protestors that he and his Maratha community would stand by the students with all their might. “Students only need to raise a call, we will join this protest in large numbers. When the time comes, all Marathas will come to Delhi and we also have the strength to overthrow this government,” he said.
He met Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party, who translated his Marathi speech to Hindi at Jantar Mantar.
When Manoj Jarange stood up to speak, many students present there urged him to speak in Hindi, which prompted Jarange Patil to say, “I don’t know Hindi, that’s the problem. But if I speak Hindi, then you will forget your Hindi,” he said, as he and the protestors listening to him burst into laughter.