CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: In Mohite Vasti, the settlement where Ankushnagar, Mahakala and Gori Gandhari villages meet along the Dhule-Solapur highway in Jalna district, the air hangs heavy with silence and hope. This is home to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, whose family is worried and nervous as his hunger strike entered the fourth day on Monday.
His wife Sumitra, and four children are hoping for a quick resolution to the quota demand. "Ever since we got married in 2003, I have known my husband to be consumed by social causes, most of them tied to Maratha reservation," Sumitra, seated in their two-room kitchen home, told TOI.
Since Jarange firmed up his resolve to make this his "ultimate" agitation for the cause, Sumitra and her children have given up food too. They, too, have been fasting since Aug 29.
Pallavi, Jarange's youngest child, is worried about his health after watching visuals from Mumbai. "My father told us not to come to the agitation site. We don't even call him," Shivraj, Jarange's eldest son, said.
Their home, with Mangalore roof tiles and worn-out limewash on the walls, speaks of their modest living. The only signs of modernity are CCTV cameras and the freshly raised boundary wall topped with an orange flag. The wall, Sumitra says, was built recently to "control unauthorised access." Everything else is pared down to bare essentials.
Their home is 10km from Antarwali Sarati village, where exactly two years ago, on Sept 1, 2023, there was a police lathicharge at Jarange's protest site. The village on Monday wore a deserted look as most men and youths had joined Jarange in Mumbai.
The quota activist, originally from Matori in Beed district, migrated to Ankushnagar after frequent crop failures from scanty rainfall. He bought an acre, tilled it briefly, and then sold it off to support the Maratha reservation around 2013. "He completely devoted himself to the cause, and we hope govt finds a solution soon," Sumitra said with worry straining her voice.
His friends recalled how Jarange was a die-hard fan of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and would sing powadas (traditional ballads in Marathi in praise of the Maratha king) as a young boy. After completing Std XII, Jarange began travelling to nearby villages to talk about Shivaji Maharaj. He joined the Congress briefly in the early 2000s but later formed his own organisation Shivba, through which he carried out social work for the community.
Over the past two years, his family has hardly seen him home for an entire day. His home runs on the earnings from two acres that his elderly parents still till. But their lives, like their meals, are suspended in waiting.
The fields are quiet and the shops half shut. Women gather in courtyards, patting stacks of bhakri, crushing chillies for 'thecha' and packing chutney. Each house prepares at least a dozen meals daily to send to Mumbai for the protesters.
Deputy sarpanch Miratai Tarak voices the growing resolve. "If the demand is not fulfilled at the earliest, all Maratha men, women, and children from across the state will head to Mumbai," she told TOI. For villagers here, the agitation is not just political - it is deeply personal. Jarange's childhood friend, Rajendra Waghmare, said, "We are not going to step back. Govt will have to either fulfil the demand or face the heat."
Farmer Lahu Tarak, at whose home Jarange was staying for two years, said, "My house is next to the agitation site from where this movement started. Our village became the centre of the Maratha reservation movement."
Kailash Shinde, a farmer from Mahakala village, said, "I am an OBC and youths from my community have joined Jarange in Mumbai. We support his demand for reservation." Back in Mohite Vasti, the flag atop Jarange's home flutters in the Sept wind. Inside, four children and their mother quietly observe a fast. Their silent vigil mirrors the larger agitation - waiting for govt to respond, and for a husband and a father to be back home.
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