Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday demanded that the Shinde government should resign taking the responsibility of the police action on Maratha quota protestors in Jalna on Friday, news agency ANI reported. Speaking to reporters, Thackeray stated: “We all have seen what happened in Jalna. The lathicharge was very brutal as if you are attacking your enemy. The protest was related to a sensitive issue…It is not possible that the police will lathi charge without informing the Chief Minister. The state government should resign if they have a little bit of shame.”
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Jalna lathi charge, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray says, “We all have seen what happened in Jalna…The lathicharge was very brutal as if you are attacking your enemy…The protest was related to a sensitive issue…It is not possible that the police… pic.twitter.com/fETuRbNb0H
— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2023
On Friday, police used baton charges and tear gas shells to disperse a hostile mob at Antarwali Sarathi on the Dhule-Solapur route that reportedly refused to allow officials to transport a man on hunger strike as part of the quota protest to the hospital.
Several people were injured, including 40 police officers, and more than 15 ST buses were set fire. In connection with the violence, 360 people have been arrested.
Speaking on the Jalna incident, Spl. IGP Aurangabad Range Dnyaneshwar Chavan stated: “Manoj Jarange’s health started deteriorating who had sat on the hunger strike…When the Additional SP & SDM convinced him for medical treatment, the crowd present there started pelting stones. During this stone-pelting our police staff was injured. A total of 21 women officers & 43 jawans were injured. A total of 64 officers were injured. To disperse the violent mob we used the justified force…40 protestors have been arrested. Buses have been burnt & we are investigating it. The additional force has been deployed…We are on watch & we are careful and cautious.”
#WATCH | Maharashtra | “…Manoj Jarange’s health started deteriorating who had sat on the hunger strike…When the Additional SP & SDM convinced him for medical treatment, the crowd present there started pelting stones. During this stone-pelting our police staff was injured. A… pic.twitter.com/kfdXpRWrok
— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2023
Meanwhile, refuting the opposition’s allegations of lathi charge being directed by the state government, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule stated: “The state government can never order lathi charge on agitators so a high level inquiry must be held into the incident,” PTI reported.
On the Maratha quota issue, he assailed Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray.
The quota allocated to the community in jobs and education was “lost” during Thackeray’s tenure as chief minister, whereas Pawar had never commented on the subject in the previous 40 years, according to Bawankule.
Speaking to reporters after seeing injured people in hospitals and hunger strikers at the site of the police action in Jalna on Saturday, Pawar said agitators informed him that “a call from higher-ups” changed the police’s stance and action was taken despite the fact that the protest was peaceful.
“The protestors told me the agitation was peaceful and discussions were on with the local administration. The protestors were raising slogans against home minister (and deputy chief minister) Devendra Fadnavis. They told me the police got a call from higher-ups and then their attitude changed,” Pawar had informed media.
“Some people say the incident was aimed at diverting attention from the (INDIA) alliance meet,” the NCP chief had further said.
On Saturday, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that police baton-charged demonstrators in Jalna on orders from the government in order to deflect attention away from the INDIA bloc meeting, which was held the same day in Mumbai.