The activist leading OBC counter-protest against Marathas: Who is Laxman Hake?

Barely four kilometres from the epicentre of the Manoj Jarange Patil-led Maratha quota agitation Antarwali Sarati village in Maharashtra’s Jalna district, starting June 13 Other Backward Classes (OBC) activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare sat on an indefinite hunger strike in Vadi Godri village that was seen as a counter-protest.

On Saturday, the two suspended their agitation after a ministerial delegation led by Chhagan Bhujbal visited the site and gave a written assurance that their demands would be met, primarily that the government not dilute the OBC quota to give Marathas reservation, as demanded by Jarange-Patil. However, the two emphasised that the protest had only been suspended and would be called off only after the government issued a white paper on reservation for Marathas.

The 45-year-old Hake who is from the Dhangar community and is a teacher by profession has emerged as the face of the OBC counter-protest demanding the exclusion of Marathas from the OBC category and a probe to determine if Kunbi certificates, which enable Marathas to avail reservation benefits under the OBC category, were given to undeserving individuals.

Jarange-Patil, meanwhile, has accused Hake of protesting to give the state government an excuse not to fulfil the “just demands” of Marathas. “The government is backing these agitations to drive a wedge between the OBCs and Marathas. We understand their game,” he said last week.

Born in a family of agricultural workers in Jujarpur village of Solapur district’s Sangola tehsil in 1979, Hake studied in a local Zilla Parishad school and later in Sangli before moving to Pune to pursue higher education. “He did not have a school bag. It was a real struggle. His parents were sugarcane cutters.