Maratha Kranti Morcha

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Maratha Kranti Morcha

Native name	मराठा क्रांती मोर्चा
Location	Worldwide
Also known as	मराठा क्रांती (मूक) मोर्चा
Organised by	Maratha Community

The Maratha Kranti Morcha, loosely translated as "Maratha revolutionary demonstration" in the Marathi language, was a series of silent and pragmatic protests organized by the Maratha community in various cities across India, and in overseas diaspora communities. Other groups, such as Muslims and other religious minorities, also supported the Morcha.^[1] The impetus for the rallies was the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village, Maharashtra, on 13 July 2016.^[2] The protesters demanded the death sentence for the rapists. The Maratha caste dominate the power and cultural structure in Maharashtra due to the size of their population.^[3]

The rallies featured no leaders and no slogans. Millions of people from across Maharashtra came together to protest, and initially no harm was done to any public or private property until January 2017, when a few instances of violence were noted.^[4]

The demand for reservations in educational positions and government jobs were also a part of these protests. At the time, the Bombay High Court had recently upheld the reservations granted to the Maratha community, but also mentioned that the percentage of quotas given wasn't justifiable.^[5] Later, the Supreme Court quashed the Maratha community reservations.^[6] A large percentage of Marathis are farmers, and the community had been severely affected by droughts and degraded arable land. Due to the lack of reservations, unemployment had become a major problem in the Maratha community. Some castes within the Maratha community, known as Kunbi, did receive the benefits of reservations provided to the Other Backward Class category; however, most people were alleged to have lost their benefits.