Maratha quota protest: Mumbai police ask Jarange to vacate Azad Maidan

Protesters in south Mumbai blocked roads and parked over 5,000 vehicles near Azad Maidan in recent days, causing severe traffic congestion and disruption across key connecting routes

Mumbai Police on Tuesday issued a notice to activist Manoj Jarange and his team, asking them to vacate Azad Maidan at the earliest, as his hunger strike over the Maratha quota demand entered its fifth day, officials said.

Though permission was granted earlier for a gathering of 5,000 protesters at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, more than 40,000 agitators arrived from various parts of Maharashtra, the police said in the notice.

The protesters blocked roads in south Mumbai over the last few days by gathering in large numbers and also parked more than 5,000 vehicles on roads connecting to the Azad Maidan and nearby areas, which led to heavy traffic congestion, they said.

The protesters cooked food on roads, took bath, danced and played cricket in the public areas, violating the conditions laid down earlier for the quota agitation, the police noted.

Civic personnel on Monday night washed the square outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), located just a few metres away from Azad Maidan, and connecting roads littered with leftover food and trash by the quota protesters, they said.

The stand-off over the Maratha quota issue showed no sign of resolving as Jarange's indefinite fast entered its fifth day on Tuesday.

The Bombay High Court on Monday asked his supporters to vacate and clean up all streets in the city by Tuesday noon and restore normalcy.

As the Maratha quota protesters violated pre-agitation conditions laid down by the police as per HC's directives, a notice was issued to Jarange and his core team by the Azad Maidan police, asking them to vacate the agitation venue, an official said.

The notice was issued in the name of Amaran Uposhan, the protest organising body from Jarange's native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, and eight members of its core team, the official said.

As the protesters violated various conditions, the police denied permission to the organisers, who on Monday sought an extension for the agitation, he said.

While refusing permission for the protests, the Mumbai Police also asked the organisers to vacate Azad Maidan at the earliest, the official said.

Jarange has been demanding inclusion of Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category for reservation benefits.

Thousands of his supporters from across Maharashtra have reached Mumbai in trucks and buses to participate in the agitation.

Though some Maratha quota protesters shifted their trucks to designated parking spaces on Monday night, many of the vehicles were still parked at the CSMT square and on the connecting roads.

Noting that Mumbai was "literally paralysed" due to Maratha agitation, which has violated all conditions and brought the city to a standstill, the HC on Monday stated it was giving an "opportunity" to Jarange and protesters to ensure all streets are vacated and cleaned by Tuesday noon.

The 43-year-old activist stopped taking water from Monday but took some sips in the evening to address the media after the HC's asked the protesters to vacate the streets.

Doctors from the state-run JJ Hospital have been checking on his health for the last two days.

Jarange on Monday accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of deliberately delaying a decision on the issue.

"It is so easy to take a decision (on providing quota to Marathas). The government has to just say it is implementing Hyderabad, Satara and other gazetteers and declare all Marathas in Marathwada as Kunbis. The distribution of such certificates can be done by district collectors and tehsildars," he claimed.

His supporters on Monday turned the CSMT station premises into a sporting arena, playing kabaddi, kho kho and even wrestling with each other.

Some protesters dumped leftover food, empty water bottles, wrappers and fruit peels on road medians, the station platforms and even on tracks.

Movement of people and vehicles became difficult due to haphazardly parked vehicles and mud slurry caused by light rain.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) personnel washed the square outside CSMT and its connecting roads with pressure jet sprays on Monday night after lifting garbage with machines, officials said.

Sanitation workers also cleaned the connecting roads using brooms.

Over the past few days, the BMC has deployed around 1,000 sanitation workers to maintain cleanliness at Azad Maidan and the surrounding areas, where a large number of protesters have gathered.

The BMC said it had distributed garbage collection bags among the protesters, urging them to deposit trash in the bags and hand them over for disposal. Additionally, the civic body has provided 400 toilets at various locations.