Mumbai: Banker, students and farmers join Maratha quota protest

At first glance it looks like a village fair with tempos stacked with rations and cars lined up outside the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai but for these Maratha protesters from Beed over 400 km away this is no picnic It is a fight they say they will not abandon until the reservation is grantedEighteenyearold Dwarkadhish Gund a junior college student has been here since August 27 with his relatives ldquoI have decided not to go back to college till this agitation ends If we want a better future reservation is the only wayrdquo he declaresA tempo stacked with rations for the protestersAlongside him is his friend Kiran Bhosale 18 who adds ldquoWe are young but our lives are stuck Even after scoring good marks we donrsquot get opportunities That is why we are standing with our elders in this fightrdquoFor Sarveshwar Patekar 26 the preparation is almost militarystyle Opening the back of a tempo in Ulwe Sector17 where the group was having breakfast he proudly shows sacks of ration and buckets of water ldquoWe have stocked food for a month We even wash our clothes in this tempo itself We are fully prepared This protest is not ending in a few daysrdquo he saysProtesters on a local trainMadhav Patekar nods in agreement ldquoOur parents are farmers They have come too despite their age If people in their 50s and 60s can join how can we youths sit at homerdquoThe highlight of the group though is Mayur Gund 30 who works at a private bank in Pune He has taken a 15day lsquomandatory leaversquo to join the Maratha Morcha in Navi MumbaiPune banker Mayur Gund who has taken leave to join the protest PicsAmarjeet SinghldquoI donrsquot enjoy working at a private bank My father sold one acre of land for my education and I attempted MPSC Maharashtra Public Service Commission three times I got 8090 per cent marks but still couldnrsquot succeed OBC candidates with 6070 per cent marks get through but we donrsquot even with higher scores Their fees are Rs 10000 ours is R2 lakh How will a farmerrsquos son afford that Reservation is the answer My father a farmer sold an acre of land for my education If we had a reservation I would have been an IAS officer todayrdquo Mayur says his voice firmHis younger brother Vilas Gund chips in at Nerul station while boarding a train to Azad Maidan He said ldquoThe government cut our water supply so some of us even bathed using Bisleri bottles But we will manage We even brought water from our villages This time we are not moving till we get justicerdquoDilip Patil and Vishal Gund echo the sentiment saying ldquoThis is not just about education or jobs it is about dignity We want equalityrdquoEvery day protesters like them take trains from CBD Belapur Nerul Juinagar and Vashi to Mumbai Even luxury malls and hotels have witnessed their presenceAs Vilas says ldquoThe government can try to stop us but we will manage We have even brought drinking water from our village We went to the Taj hotel Inorbit Mall in Vashi and Grand Central Mall in Seawoods Nobody stopped us We will not move until we get justicerdquoSome of the protesters have parked their cars tempos and trucks outside the CIDCO office in Navi Mumbai while some have been commuting daily to Azad Maidan by train Railway stations like CBD Belapur Nerul Juinagar and Vashi saw unusually crowded trains on Sunday packed with protesters heading to MumbaiA farmer points out ldquoThere are nearly 7000 people here but only 200 toilets We are forced to use nearby commercial buildings Others complain of water shortage In one of the more unusual sights some protesters were seen bathing using Bisleri bottles after the statersquos water supply was cutrdquoFrom farmers to college students to bankers the Maratha protest has become a movement of grit Their message is simple this time they will not go back emptyhanded