Maratha protests stretch Mumbai Police during Ganesh festival
New Delhi, Sep 1: Mumbai city is turning tense and facing severe pressure on its civic and security machinery as Maratha reservation protests that entered 4th day running coincided with the ongoing Ganesh festival, creating an extraordinary strain on the city’s police force, Mumbai Mirror newspaper reported.
As thousands of Maratha protesters pour into Mumbai, mostly congregating in South Mumbai, they are protesting and joining in solidarity with Manoj Jarange, who is on a hunger strike in central Mumbai.
While thousands of devotees are crowding the streets for Ganeshotsav gathering also in central Mumbai, the city’s security apparatus has been stretched to its limits, reports Mumbai Mirror newspaper. Police officials say the overlap of religious festivities and political agitation has left the force overburdened at a time when law-and-order responsibilities are already at their peak.
The protests, centred at Azad Maidan and spilling into adjoining areas, have required large-scale deployment of personnel. At the same time, police have been tasked with managing the city-wide Ganesh processions, which typically demand one of the year’s biggest securities bandobasts, reports the newspaper. The combination has resulted in manpower shortages and heightened risks of disruption and fear amongst the local residents that anything can happen.
Mumbai Mirror reported that to cope, reinforcements have been drawn from neighbouring districts and Commissionerates. Traffic has emerged as a critical challenge. The simultaneous inflow of festival crowds and protesters has paralysed major arterial roads, leading to severe gridlocks across the city. Many areas have been reduced to near standstills, raising concerns among corporate leaders, commuters, and civic authorities.
PTI reported that activist Manoj Jarange has vowed to stop drinking water from the fourth day of his hunger strike on Monday (September 1, 2025) and brave “bullets” over his demand for reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. He has demanded the government issue a GR based on the reservation based on available records. For its part, the Maharashtra government on Sunday (August 31, 2025) said it will seek a legal opinion on implementing the Hyderabad gazetteer on the Kunbi status — an OBC caste — for the Maratha community. Jarange, however, remained unimpressed and said he won't budge from the protest venue at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai till his demands are met, even if the Devendra Fadnavis government fires bullets at protestors. He has been staging an indefinite hunger strike at the Azad Maidan from Friday (august 29) over his demand for a 10% quota for Marathas under the OBC category. Asserting he will not leave Mumbai till his demands are met, Jarange on Sunday (August 31, 2025) said, "The government has records of 58 lakh Marathas as Kunbis."
