On Wednesday evening, a large group of people gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s public square of protest to raise the message “Not in my Name.”
The people were standing in protest against the lynching against Muslims and Dalits in the name of cow protection. They also brought to light the silence of the government and the climate of fear that has swept the country.
A documentary filmmaker, Rahul Roy was one of the organizers of the event and he said, “It is time we citizens reclaim our Constitution. This is about Fundamental Rights – to life and equality.”
People from different fields, students, journalists, politicians, academics, lawyers, workers, retired professionals, and local citizens came to express the right of equality.
The protestors were fighting for all the inhumane incidents from the killing of 16 year old Junaid Khan in Ballabgarh and many similar incidents in Jharkhand, Alwar, and Dadri.
Sister of the missing student from JNU Najeeb Ahmed also was at the protest, Sadaf Musharaf said, “Many of these people stood up for me when my brother was attacked, so why shouldn’t I stand by them? Najeeb too was a victim of mob lynching. We should all oppose these activities.”
Saba Dewan, a filmmaker put up Facebook posts that led to the many peaceful protests in the country.
Dushyant, a lawyer and columnist said, “This event shows love for the nation, and is against the forces that divide us.”
The protest was filled with music and poetry with bhajans like Vaishnava Jan and Hum Dekhenge by Faiz. They played Rabbi Shergill’s Sufi music and even Kabir’s songs of sorrow. Each time the crowd tried to shout out slogans the organizers reminded them that it was a ‘shok sabha’ for humanity and to grieve the ones lost and not politics.
Not everyone agreed about the protest making an impact, Ahmed from Noida said, “These acts of solidarity will fade after three or four days. We need robust laws to tackle such violence.”
