NCP leader Ajit Pawar requests Maratha protesters not to kill themselves

NCP leader Ajit Pawar appealed on Tuesday to protesters seeking quota for the Maratha community in Maharashtra not to resort to killing themselves over the demand and urged them to demonstrate peacefully.

The former Maharashtra minister made the appeal through posts on Twitter but did not refer to any particular incident. His remark comes a day after a protester, Pramod Jaising Hore, allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train in Aurangabad over the quota demand.

A 35-year-old man ended his life, while eight protesters attempted suicide today in Maharashtra over the quota issue. Abhijeet Deshmukh, a resident of Veeda village in Beed district in the Marathwada region, hanged himself from a tree near his house, police said.

This was the fifth suicide in the state over the Maratha reservation issue. Eight protesters attempted self-immolation by pouring kerosene in support of Maratha reservation in Latur district, also in Marathwada, they said. Chakan town near Pune had witnessed violence yesterday as vehicles were torched and stones pelted amid protest by the community.

"I urge the campaigners from the Sakal Maratha Samaj (entire Maratha community) to follow the path of peace ensuring their campaign is not stained by violence.

"Besides, I request you with folded hands none should resort to the extreme step of ending life pushing family and friends into grief," the former deputy chief minister said on Twitter.

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