The Truth About the Maratha Andolan: Stop Misguiding Innocent People

Let me be very blunt with you

I’m not here to write a sugar-coated piece. I’m writing this as a young lawyer, a proud Hindu Maharashtrian, and as someone who believes deeply in the principles of my God, your God, our God Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. And because of that, I feel hurt when I see what’s happening today in the name of the Maratha andolan.

Everyone knows the truth. What's really going on but few say it aloud: this agitation is not about the poor Maratha boy from Beed or the young Maratha girl from Jalna who just wants a fair chance at education. It’s about politics before elections.

Manoj Jarange Patil has made this entire movement about shouting slogans and abusing only the Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis Ji, while conveniently ignoring that the same cabinet also has two Deputy Chief Ministers  both from the Maratha community.

If this was about justice, wouldn’t the fire be directed equally? But no. It is only Fadnavis Ji who is targeted, because creating a villain out of him helps the opposition play its dirty political game.

This is what pains me the most. I come from the soil of Maharashtra, I know the community’s pride and its struggles. Ordinary Maratha farmers, students, and youth are innocent at heart. They don’t sit with constitutional judgments in their hands. They don’t know about the 50% cap, about Supreme Court rulings, about the technicalities of “exceptional circumstances.”

They only know what they are told. And right now, they are being fed half-truths.

They are told “reservation will come if you shout louder.” But the truth  which no one on the stage will tell them  is that courts will strike down anything that breaks the law. Who will suffer then? Not Jarange. Not the politicians clapping from behind. It will be the innocent student who loses a hard won seat because the law didn’t back it.

That is why I call this agitation not a movement of justice, but a betrayal of innocent Marathas.

I need to say this with all the respect in my heart: ChShivaji Maharaj is my God. And I know for most of you, he is God too.

What did Shivaji Maharaj teach us? To respect women. To uphold dignity even in battle. To protect our people, not misguide them.

And then we hear this so-called leader using abusive language against the mother of our Chief Minister. Can there be a bigger insult to Shivaji Maharaj’s legacy than this? How far we have fallen, when the name of Shivaji Maharaj is invoked on the protest ground, but his principles are abandoned the very next minute.

Let’s also be fair here. Devendra Fadnavis Ji has not shouted back. He has not responded to insults with insults. He has only said one thing, again and again: “We will find a solution, but only within the Constitution.”

And look at the record. It was during his government that:

• 10% Maratha reservation was given (SEBC Act, now defended in court).

• The Annabhau Sathe Arthik Mahamandal was revived, creating 1.5 lakh Maratha entrepreneurs.

• Scholarships, hostels, and SARTHi coaching schemes for Maratha students were expanded.

No Maratha Chief Minister in history has done as much for the community as Fadnavis Ji has done, despite not being a Maratha himself. That’s the truth.

If the real aim is to help the poor, then the tool already exists. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji brought the 103rd Constitutional Amendment creating the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota.For the first time in India’s history, reservation was given not on the basis of caste, but purely on economic need. And guess what? The Supreme Court upheld it.This is not a gimmick. This is real justice  giving the poor Maratha farmer’s son, or the poor Brahmin clerk’s daughter, or the poor Dalit vendor’s child, the same ladder to climb up. Poverty doesn’t ask your caste before it strikes. Opportunity shouldn’t either.

And here’s another fact: Marathas are already the biggest beneficiaries of EWS. Which proves one thing: the system is working, if we use it honestly.

I have to also point out something dangerous. Jarange has even said he will fight for Muslim reservation. Now you tell me  what this is really about? Is it about helping Maratha farmers, or is it about dividing Hindus before elections? First create a fight between Marathas and OBCs, then bring in communal angles. This is not social justice. This is divide and rule, version 2.0.And innocent Marathas are being used as pawns in this game.

To be honest my blunt opinion is pretty straight forward,

Reservation was meant to be temporary. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar never intended it to become permanent. Seventy-five years after Independence, we must ask: are we building strength, or creating dependency?If someone is truly poor, they deserve help. But help should be based on economic reality, not caste slogans. Otherwise, we will keep fighting each other, while the poorest will still remain poor. 

The Maratha andolan in its current form is not about justice. It is about politics. It is about elections. It is about creating villains and dividing Hindus. As someone who bows to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as my God, I refuse to stay silent when his principles are thrown away. Shivaji Maharaj taught us respect, dignity, courage, and unity. He did not teach us to abuse mothers or to misguide our own people. And as someone who stands by Devendra Fadnavis Ji, I will say this: he has done more for Marathas than anyone else, and he is still calm and constitutional even under abuse. That is real leadership.

The innocent Maratha youth deserve the truth. They deserve ladders of opportunity, not slogans of anger. And they deserve leaders who unite them, not agitators who mislead them.