People of all ages, shades came together to 'lynch' communal hatred

Everyone please stand up for oneminute silence for the people who died due to lynching came an announcement from the stage and almost a thousand people stood up in silence but one person didnt wheelchairseated 82yearold Mrs Kapoor ShuklaThe announcement was made by Saba Dewan a Gurugrambased independent filmmaker whose Facebook post last week Not in My Name to protest against lynchings had gone viral On Wednesday evening thousands turned up at Jantar Mantar in the city for the protest and Mrs Kapoor was among themSeated on the wheelchair and holding a poster which read Lynch Map of India the octogenarian said I detest whats happening and we shouldnt allow this to happen The 82yearold was born in the presentday Pakistan and came to India after partition when she was just 12 She said that We all lived like one and added that she used to tie rakhi to two Muslim brothers when she was in PakistanWere all one and we cant go on killing minorities This is not done not done she said turning her head from side to side Meanwhile Dewan said from the dais that she couldnt sleep on the night she heard about the death of 16yearold Junaid and that made her write the Facebook post Not in My Name which brought thousands of people on the street to protest against the lynchingsJunaids family was supposed to attend todays Wednesday protest but they were called to the police station yesterday Tuesday and they were attacked by some people on their way back Dewan said Shame cried the crowd in unison Many among the crowd held out a poster showing a bloodstained slipper a blood covered stick and blood splattered on the ground and Not in my name written across itDewans speech was followed by poems and songs reminding of lynchings and communal problems At the extreme back of about 2000strong crowd were four schoolgoing girls holding a sixfeetlong banner which extended from their shoulders to legs A hole was made in the banner so that 14yearold Manishas head could peep throughWe came to know about the protest through news and Facebook Manisha said If it can happen to a 15yearold Junaid it can happen to us too one of the other three girls said The girls said they made the poster at their park in Gole Market which is about 15 minutes walking distance from Jantar Mantar and added that they came aloneAt this stage voice of one of the family members of Pehlu Khan who was lynched in Alwar of Rajasthan came over the public address system When the Home Minister lied in Parliament that the lynching didnt happen wont the police also lie We know that the people who lynched him still roam free in the streetsShame pat came the crowds acknowledgement Twentyfiveyearold Gavin who is from Canada could be seen trying to decipher the poems being recited from the stage The thing about protests is that government will feel the pressure Maybe things change today or tomorrow or maybe it takes a decade he told IANSGavin has been working for an NGO in Delhi and has been in the city for the past six months and talked about how Ambedkars Annihilation of Caste formed his understanding of Dalits issues in the country Ive been reading about atrocities against Dalits and Muslims for the past six months here and protests like this show that the society is progressive and responding to it he addedMuslim lives matter All lives matter read one of the posters another had a cows image on onehalf and Not in My Name inscribed on the other half Social activist Medha Patkar who came for the protest told IANS that fundamentalists think they were winning by dividing people to create vote banksThere should be more protests like this she added Of course lynchings have seen a steep increase after the present government came to power in 2014 said Dewan She said that the campaign Not in My Name started with one voice and now people from various cities across India and abroad were holding Not in My Name in their citiesAt around 8 pm as the protest was nearing its end it started to rain and as everyone ran for cover a group of youths took over the protest area Under the yellow light of the street lights with loud drumming they continued the protest with their sloganeering From Casteism Azaadi freedom From Brahmanism Azaadi Gaurakshaks Murdabad