Saamana cartoon that ‘hurt sentiments’ draws Marathas’ ire

Maratha groups on Monday burnt copies of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana in Nashik,

Nanded, Ahmednagar and Beed as they were angered by the publication of a cartoon in its Sunday edition that allegedly hurt the community’s sentiments.

In Nashik, a delegation gave a memorandum to the collector and condemned the cartoon.

The copies of the daily were burnt at Trimurty Chowk in Nashik on Monday afternoon. In Nanded, hundreds assembled at ITI corner and burnt the newspapers while in Beed a mob of 300 people burnt copies of the newspaper in front of the collector’s office.

The agitators, which included many women, claimed that the cartoon demeaned Maratha women in particular and all women in general.

This ‘virat morcha’ clause overtly pertains to the Maratha morchas, which are being held in all districts of Maharashtra to demand death penalty for the Khopardi accused, repeal of atrocities laws and reservation for the community.

Social media went wild with several persons demanding a public apology from the editor and cartoonist.

Jijao Brigade and other Maratha organisations said they were holding a meeting on the issue and would give their views later. The Maratha Kranti Morcha, an umbrella body of all Marathas from all parties and organisations, has strictly forbidden its members from giving their names to the media. The turnout at the Maratha morchas is huge and is increasing daily.