Marathas take to streets in Pune

Pune on Sunday witnessed a ‘historic’ silent march held by the Maratha community in which over 20 lakh people reportedly took part in support of a set of 10 demands, including fast-tracking of the probe and trial against the Khopardi rape accused.

Girls, women and working class people led the march from the front while political leaders remained at the back. According to organisers, no rally or political meeting prior to this had more than 10 lakh participants. Though the organisers pegged the participants’ number at 20 lakh, the police estimated that up to 15 lakh had taken part in the rally.

The march began with girls garlanding the statute of Sambhaji Maharaj at Garware Bridge and traversed Laxmi Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Moledina Road and Bundgarden Road before the crowd reached the council hall. The march started at 10.15 am and reached the council hall by 1.15 pm. A group of girls handed over the memorandum to the collector Saurabh Rao.

More than two lakh women were leading the march, which like others held earlier at various cities of the state, remained peaceful without sloganeering and talks by leaders. A team of volunteers was cleaning the roads as soon as participants crossed them. “Over 20 lakh participants scattered across the city sung the national anthem at the single point of time. This was historic, because in earlier marches held at other cities, only participants who had gathered at a stadium or a area would only sing the anthem. But today participants scattered across the city sang the anthem and ended the programme,” said Dhanjay Jadhav, one of the organisers.

More than 4,000 policemen were deployed across the city for security reasons, while over 9,000 volunteers from the organising committees maintained discipline during the march.