Thread by @UnFound_news

The demand for #MarathaReservation dates back to the 1980s. #MarathaUnFound

The 1st major agitations were initiated in 97 by organisations like #MarathaMahasangh & the #MarathaSevaSangh. According to the Maratha Seva Sangh, the #Marathas are essentially #Kunbis, a nomenclature given to agrarian communities that include Gujarat’s #Patidars #MarathaUnFound

Mandal Commission report of 1990, the National Commission for Backward Classes report of 2000 & the 2008 State Backward Classes Commission report pointed out that the #Maratha can't be considered as educationally or socially backward #MarathaUnFound

#Congress and #NCP set up a committee chaired by #NarayanRane to re examine the issue & survey the community. The report found reservation favourable & an ordinance was issued granting Marathas 16 % reservation 4 months before the 2014 polls #MarathaUnFound

This ordinance was stayed by the high court with the judges opining that they did not find the #Maratha community backward. The court also said that this would take over 50% reservations in state which went against the apex court ruling. #MarathaUnFound

The gang rape & murder of a minor girl in #Kopardi village in #Ahmednagar in July 2016 served as a trigger for a massive mobilisation by #Maratha organisations across the state #MarathaUnFound

Spearheaded by #MarathaKrantiMorcha, these protests were largely silent & leaderless mass movement pressing for reservation among other demands. Over 50 protests in 2016-17. Social media played a key role in mobilisation #MarathaUnFound

The #MookMorcha turned violent starting 2017. Suicide of a youth in July 2018 triggered another series of violent protests! #MarathaUnFound

A 2017 @epw_in paper used data from India Human Development Survey to show that the #Maratha were actually better off than all caste groups excluding #Brahmins not just in land endowments but also education & access to govt jobs in #Maharashtra #MarathaUnFound

. @meenamo says “From 1962 to 2004 55% MLAs were Maratha. Nearly 54% of the edu institutions in the state are controlled by them. Of the 105 sugar factories, 86 are headed by Marathas, while 23 district cooperative banks have Marathas as chairpersons.." #MarathaUnFound

. @meenamo cont "Marathas have 60% to 75% presence in the Univ mngmnt. ~ 71% of the CoOp ctrl; 75% to 90% of the land is owned. All milk CoOp & cotton mills are either owned or ctrl. In 54 of the 288 assembly constituencies, only Marathas have ever been elected." #MarathaUnFound

. @SwarajyaMag makes the case that the unrest in #Maratha is majorly due to perceived loss of political power; the decline in agriculture; & #Fadnavis's political moves swarajyamag.com/politics/falli… #MarathaUnFound