Delhi

A large number of academics, writers, artists, students and political activists came out in protest on a humid evening at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.

 

Organisers of the protest at Delhi preferred cultural performances over slogans and speeches.

Bengaluru

It was a vibrant protest in Bengaluru with creative "Not in My Name" banners in front of the Town Hall.

 

Benny Kuruvilla says "All kinds of folks were there (in Bengaluru), which was good. Some wanted to shout slogans but organisers wanted a silent protest."

Mumbai

Image Courtesy: india.com
Protestors braved the heavy showers and gathered on Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai.

 

Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times
Bollywood actors Shabana Azmi, Konkana Sen Sharma, Kalki Koechlin and Nandita Das came out to protest in Mumbai.

Chandigarh

Image Courtesy: Sameer Singh
Though the protest at Chandigarh was called at short notice, it saw a good number of protestors.

 

Image Credit: Sameer Singh
Amy Singh says "It was raining. We had traffic jams," but "people made it loud and clear that citizens would not allow any kind of hate crimes, violence against minorities or Muslim mob lynching anymore."

Trivandrum

Image Courtesy: Anu Arunima
At the protest in Trivandrum, people registered their anger and anguish through songs and poetry. The protestors pledged to fight fascism in every possible way.

 

Image Courtesy: Korah Abraham
Professor G Arunima says, "There were people who travelled from Trissur and Kottayam to come to Trivandrum for the protest – it was so heartening!"

Gaya

Image Courtesy: Shaqir Akhtar
In Gaya, the protest was called by the youth and most of the participants were also youngsters.

 

Image Courtesy: Shaqir Akhtar
At Ambedkar Chowk, Gaya, protestors formed a line and held placards for everybody to read.

Kolkata

Image Courtesy: Aatreyee Das
In Kolkata, the protestors made brief speeches expressing their anger at the culture of mob lynching.

 

Image Courtesy: Anuradha Kapoor

Abu Sohel, student of Jadavpur University, comments on something that the mainstream media overlooked: "As an atheist person born in a Muslim household, I have felt for long that the larger population in India doesn’t know how to respect cultural practices of the minority communities residing in India. Anyone with a basic understanding of Islam would know that ‘namaz’ (the ritual prayer observed by practicing Muslims) is an extremely personal thing with nothing but the idea of the invisible Allah standing in front of them, yet when a dozen of Muslims chose to offer namaz at the protest site to make a political statement, photographers and media personnel stood in front of them, all huddled up trying to get a ‘million dollar shot’ thus disrupting their prayer, while turning the whole act into an exotic spectacle, reducing the presence of the few members of the Muslim community to sheer ‘tokenism’. And yet the mainstream media, which seemed to be more preoccupied with celebrities present at the event, were lauded by the organizers for their media coverage! "

Titi Roy, who joined the protest in Kolkata, said "it was a day when you wanted to do something against the terrible atrocities happening around you".

Jaipur

Image Courtesy: Not In My Name Facebook Page
Not in My Name protest was held at Gandhi Nagar in Jaipur

 

Image Courtesy: Not In My Name Facebook Page

 
London

Poet and Academic Nitisha Paul at the protest in SOAS, London

The protest in London was held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

 

Writer Meena Kandasamy at the protest in SOAS, London

Toronto

Image Courtesy: Atreyee Majumder

At Toronto, the protestors delivered a press release asking the Consulate to issue a statement against the killings in India. The protest was a call to the diaspora to engage in sustained action, because as Ree puts it "we need more than one protest".

 

Image Courtesy: Maithili Venkataraman

Sara Abraham says that over 50 people attended the protest in Toronto for a full 2 hours, and close to 30 sent their regrets. Flowers were left in memory of Junaid in front of the Indian High Commission at Toronto, Canada.
 

The post Don’t Kill in My Name: A Report on the Protest appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
With less than a day of prior notice, the city carried a socially and politically active crowd of arguably 500 at its peak, and immersed itself in the trending hashtag #NotInMyName hovered by the media gaze. I stood at a distance and absorbed the eccentricity of passions culminating into chains, songs, and posters as a mark of spontaneous resistance.
 
Mumbai’s young and old gathered from 5-7 pm to distance themselves from incidents of mob lynching and communal hatred disproportionately perpetrated by Hindu extremist factions and against Muslim citizens. As a spontaneous reaction to Junaid’s lynching on a train from Delhi to Ballabhgarh, the Mumbai protest was one among 13 others organized across the country today. The protests, in the limited capacity and time that they could, successfully questioned State complicity, and the condonation of communal hatred and lynching of a religious minority by the ruling government.
 
The crowd refreshingly comprised of many new faces, and their engagement with political and social activity was reflective of a growing consciousness amongst a youth that has often been dismissed as complacent and apathetic. The protest was arguably a display of elite resistance, witnessed by sheer composition of the protesters. But notwithstanding the problematic of representation, the movement was important even to showcase the discard of apathy by the socio-economically privileged section of the society.
 

As everyone put their networking skills to test, I smiled at the rare acknowledgment by some of why they had come; the hashtag that attempts to distance Hindus from countless murders of Muslims in the name of conceited Hinduism and what it ostensibly stands for some is a silent avoidance of savarna Hindu-perpetrated attacks on low-caste Hindus. But the debate of semantics where everyone is complicit in acts of violence, physical or otherwise, cannot and should not hinder resistance against a government that is placing its bets on exactly that.
 
Divisive politics and divisive politicization should not stand in the way of symbols of unity and social harmony. This protest, hopefully the first of many, served the purpose of a symbol, of calling out silence as an act of violence that is as active in mob lynching as the overt act of stabbing Junaid on the passenger train.
 
(The writer is a student with the Jindal Global Law School)

The post Breaking Silence, Pushing Boundaries, a Newcomer to Mumbai, Writes on #Not in My Name Protest appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: Times of India

Mallika Sarabhai

“If this be our culture may it perish at once. If this be our sanskriti, may apocalypse come now.”
I live in a time that I could never have imagined. I live among people I could never have thought could be. I live in a space that leaves me wordless. Bestial? No, animals don't behave like this. Barbaric? Even the Berbers had codes of conduct. How shall I describe the depravity of the spirit that leads us into becoming lynch mobs, condoned, in our indifference and silence, by all of us. What culture are we harping on preserving? What sanskriti? If this be our culture may it perish at once. If this be our sanskriti, may apocalypse come now.

It was 'enough' after the first death. What can we do but scream soundlessly at where we stand? And incite a trillion screams till we regain our senses.

 
Geetanjali Shree

“Words fail. Our protest must not!”
That sections within our society can be so insanely intolerant and so unabashedly cruel is alarming enough. Even more alarming is the impunity with which these murderous public outrages are perpetrated, an ominous confirmation that they are allowed, even encouraged, by people in authority. We do not even have the consolation that these sections constitute a lunatic fringe. They are getting centrestage. These murderous acts and the instincts leading to them will be suicidal. Words fail. Our protest must not!
 

Mandakranta Sen

“The train carried India from light to utter darkness.”
The ill-fated journey was on 22nd June 2017, just a few days before sacred Eid. Ill fate? Whose ill fate? Ill fate of a young boy of 16 and his family? Yes, of course, but more than that, it’s the grave ill fate of us, of all Indians. The train was travelling from one place to another. It was travelling from life to death, from peace to violence, from fellow feeling to intolerance, from love to hatred. The train carried India from light to utter darkness.

We all know what happened. The murderers needed just a fabricated excuse or nothing at all. The four brothers, including Junaid who died in the attack, were carrying new clothing for the family. Apparently, the killers ‘accused’ them of carrying beef and attacked them. We have been going through this dark phase for quite some time now, and we must see the end of it NOW.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

The post “If this be our culture may it perish at once. If this be our sanskriti, may apocalypse come now.”: Mallika Sarabhai appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Shahane, known for her liberal views, said that she did not care what religion did the 16-year-old Junaid belong to nor was she bothered about the religious background of the Harayana boy’s murderers.

She wrote, “I don’t care what religion those lynchers belonged to. Nor do I care what religion Junaid belonged to. I only care about one thing. A group of mean, cruel human beings killed a teenager and assaulted three other young men brutally!”

Sharing her personal fear, Shahane said that her heart ‘breaks for Junaid’s mother because her own elder son will turn 16 next year.

“My elder son will turn 16 next year. My heart breaks for Junaid’s mother. Not only did a group of cruel human beings kill Junaid, another group of cruel human beings egged them on. Junaid was also killed by those cruel people who witnessed the insanity & chose to remain silent,” Her Facebook post said.

Read her full Facebook post below;

NOT IN MY NAME

Junaid was lynched by a mob of cruel human beings. I don’t care what religion those lynchers belonged to. Nor do I care what religion Junaid belonged to. I only care about one thing. A group of mean, cruel human beings killed a teenager and assaulted three other young men brutally!
Junaid was 16.
My elder son will turn 16 next year.
My heart breaks for Junaid’s mother.
Not only did a group of cruel human beings kill Junaid, another group of cruel human beings egged them on. Junaid was also killed by those cruel people who witnessed the insanity & chose to remain silent.
There are some cruel people who justify this lynching.
Yes! Hate allows for all sorts of justification.
There has been a long list of these lynchings. It has become so common that no one talks about it. Nobody asks questions about what happened to the perpetrators. Whether they were caught & given the strictest punishment or whether they were released to unleash more violence!
I cannot fathom how anyone can kill unarmed, innocent human beings!
I cannot fathom how people can justify this horrific violence!
Instead of taking law into their own hands why are police complaints not made?
Is it because the lynch mob knows that there is no reason behind what they have done?
All they want to do is to kill in the name of hate.
Whichever religion, ideology, language, ethnicity you belong to, lynching done in any name cannot be condoned!
We’ve suffered so many riots, terrorist attacks, pogroms, lynchings but we haven’t learnt anything.
The bottom line is that innocent human beings become the target of that hate. They are usually poor. They are usually those who are incapable of fighting back. It is really too, too disheartening.
Innocence dies when hate rules!
I cannot be a part of those who encourage hate.
I was with the Ekta Manch marching from Parel to Azad Maidan singing ” Hum hongey kaamyaab….” to promote brotherhood between fellow citizens of all faiths in 1993 after the horrendous riots followed by the heinous bomb blasts in Mumbai.
I marched to the Gateway of India to protest the utter failure & crass mishandling of 26/11 by the then Congress Govt in the State and the Centre in 2008.
I supported the Anna Hazare anti corruption movement when he waged the civil battle against the UPA 2 Govt at the Centre.
I was vocal about women’s safety after the horrendous rape & murder of Jyoti Singh as well as Pallavi Purkayastha as well as the sickening hacking of Swathi.
Today I stand firmly against the lynch mentality that has an active political patronage in our country.
I do not belong to any political party. I am a citizen of one of the finest democracies in the World. That is why it is so important for all of us to respect & protect the tenets of our Constitution.
I, as a proud citizen of India, do not conform to the views of anyone who actively or passively supports this lynching.
My allegiance lies with the Constitution of India.
If the Govt or any other body does anything to undermine the basic tenets of democracy in our country, I will vocally oppose it.
I so wanted to be a part of the peaceful civil protest at Carter Road today but I can’t. But I will not be a part of this hate!
I do not want my children to inherit this hate.
I will not have the blood of innocents on my hands.

NOT IN MY NAME!

Courtesy: Facebook Post
 

The post #NotInMyName: Renuka Shahane’s gut-wrenching post will make you cry appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Finally, Indians, right thinking ones at least, not the 31 per cent who remain bhakts who are either blinded by the evil in our midst or thrive on India turning into a ‘Lynch republic’, are angry enough to take to the streets. It took some time coming, but it has happened. Today Wednesday June 28 public outrage and protest will be expressed at 12 cities in India and abroad against the hate crimes, lynchings and murders of innocent Indians, most of whom are Muslims, some Dalits, since the new government took office in May 2014. Since Sunday, June 25, Prem Singh has been sitting on a hunger fast at Jan Path to protest ‘his grief and guilt’ at the killings of innocents.

The protests are welcome, the assertion in the public sphere long, long overdue. As we gear up to participate –and hopefully intensify the protests –let us also do a little bit more. Let us, unequivocally condemn Mob Terror in the same breath and with the same intensity as Bomb Terror.

For years now, since distributions of trishuls through trishul diksha  programmes, since violent arms trainings by the RSS and Bajrang Dal, since the terror unleashed by the Mobs on the Street-ever available at the blow of the metamorphical whistle –be it the Mob that lynched Christians (there were over 75 attacks between 1999 and 2002 documented by the All India Christian Union and published by Communalism Combat) or the Mob that attacked Naroda Patiya or Gulberg Society or Odh or Sardarpura villages (Gujarat 2002) or the Mob terror unleashed in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Meerut (September 2013)–we have been arguing, with and to the political class and law enforcement agencies: treat Mob terror and Bomb Terror on Par. Do not look at these equally debilitating and vicious kinds of violence that impact innocent lives, differently.

The recent brute attacks, in the name of gau atankwaad, that began with Mohammad Akhlaq in September 2015, 15 months after the Modi Sarkar took office, and have continued in different geographical locations, since. Most if not are Muslims, some Dalits.

But even before that, let’s not forget Trilokpuri and Bawana. They were not the incidents of individual lynchings that began with the killings of Akhlaq but within months of Modi taking oath, in the November of 2014, it was a sorry and tense Moharram for our Muslim brethren to commemorate in the nation’s capital. This author had then written (Rashtriya Sahara) that it was only an all night vigil by pro-active citizens all over Delhi and the country had kept a tight leash and control on the capital’s police and security apparatus that was quite simply not allowed to slacken it’s vigil on the week end post Diwali.

Few questions were asked about why the ‘Mata ki Chowkey’ that had mysteriously been inspired by the ‘Swaach Bharat’ campaign and come up not anywhere in the rest of Trilokpuri but in a spot where a Masjid existed, a very old Masjid for over four decades. This chowkey committed  to being removed by Dussehra, brazenly stayed on and on and a jagran was planned and allowed on October 31 the Jumma  before Moharram. The fact that Moharram and the customary Tazia  procession passed off peacefully on November 4 was in large measure due to the steps taken by the local communities of Muslims and Hindus and most especially for activists across Delhi who stepped in, keeping a vigil. In short, police or no police, Central government of whichever due, the committed secular janata of Delhi brokered the peace. Salaam and Saluts.

No thanks to the government, however.  The party in power at the Centre shameless brokers in hatred continued to up the ante since the Delhi state polls had been announced. We witnessed in November 2014 and continue to witness a steadfast re-writing of history and a legitimization of irrationality and bigotry that has captured the imagination of a karava chowth celebrating upwardly mobile generation.

Coming back to the burning embers at Trilokpuri. One of the rabid wings of the ruling BJP is the Vishwa Hindu Parishad/Bajrang Dal and the Bajrang Dal which had been circulating a pamphlet widely in Delhi ‘warning of terror attacks (read Muslim) against temples in the capitals. Today in place of pamphlets it is hate-ridden, irrational What’s App messages that are circulated to generate jaan  and josh for the Mob to act. The Delhi police did not have to answer for why it allowed the Mahapanchayat that Friday, in November 2014, a gathering that was sickening to read about because the speeches and venom spewed by elected representatives are clearly violative of the law (read Bawana, Mussalmaan aur Mahapanchayat at www.sabrang.com) . Just days before the Mahapanchayat, police behavior in certain blocks of Trilokpuri was illegal and barbaric, boys (largely Muslim but also some Valmikis) were thrashed in daylight searches as the women wept, screamed and watched. An eye witness account of a journalist present on our website (sabrang.com) is horrific. In the arrests and detentions, predictably were a disproportionate number of Muslims.

At the time of the low intensity but vicious Trilokpuri and Bawana violence in the nation’s capital –a precursor to the individual and horrific lynchings we speculated on how, after coming to power, the sangh and its well trained mob cadres will resort to this kind of violence not the Gujarat 2002 or Muzaffarnagar 2013 kind. Little were we to know, then, that individual mob lynchings and acts of targeted Mob Terror would be the New Weapon in the Sangh’s  ever ready Armour.

This is a good beginning, even if it comes somewhat late. It needs to go farther however, to assert, again and again, in public discourse that Mob Terror is as Vicious as Bomb and to ensure that every police station, ever district collector, every railway policeman functions as the Indian Constitution requires him or her to, and not as per the dictates of the hate-ridden agenda of the sangh parivar.

 Many or most of the most victims of the brute attacks post 2014 –mob terror lynchings or shottings –were killed, but there were others who were traumatised by injury. Salma, was brutally thrashed for her bag of buffalo meat at Mandsaur railway station in Madhya Pradesh in 2016. One survivor, Manish Mandal, was beaten so badly that he lost his eye for daring to honk loudly to clear cattle on a Bihar road?

 These are not the only ones. Sabrangindia has been tracking lynch killings from Jharkand and Manipur which have gone un-reported in the English media. (Mob Violence in Manipur: An Aberration or an Erosion of Syncretism?https://sabrangindia.in/article/mob-violence-manipur-aberration-or-erosion-syncretism). Even as the incident of the killing of 15 year old Junaid has drawn out people to protest, the cold blooded shooting to death, by men in uniform of 24 year old Mohammad Salman just after the family returned from the Alvida Jumma Namaz (the last Friday prayer in the month of Ramzan) has not drawn any criticism. (Another Bloody Killing on the Eve of Eid, Policemen Allegedly Shoot Dead Mohd Salman (24), Arms Guard Confesses to Crime, Arrested: Chatra, Jharkand; https://sabrangindia.in/article/another-bloody-killing-eve-eid-policemen-allegedly-shoot-dead-mohd-salman-24-arms-guard)

We had barely recovered from the brute lynching of dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in April 2017 when Zafar Hussain Khan, a political activist of the CPIML was brutally killed—instigated by the Nagarpalika chief Ashok Jain –for preventing the exploitation of women being photographed while defecating, an enterprise of the Swacch Bharat Campaign. Zafar’s killing on June 16 this year was also swallowed by us all, in relative silence.

Even faraway Manipur has not been immune, the hatred spread by insidious propaganda has reached even there: The brutal mob lynching of six Muslims (locally known as Pangals) in Manipur on March 25, 2016 who went to watch Thabal Chongba (Moonlight Dance) in connection to Yaoshang (Holi) festival, deserves the severest condemnation because of the very nature of the act.Barely a fortnight later, again, on April 7, 2016, three Muslim youths were brutally beaten up at Mayang Imphal Yangbi Garden of Imphal West district. Two of them were died in the lynching and a third was critically injured.

As many of 97% of these attacks were reported after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came to power in May 2014, and about half the cow-related violence–32 of 63 cases–were from states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when the attacks were reported, revealed our analysis of violence recorded until June 25, 2017.

While the public flogging of Ramesh, Ashok, Vashram, Bechar and three others Gujarat’s Una block last July drew the normally hyper-communicative prime minister to speak (and even then chief minister, Anandibehn Patel) to resign (remember Gujarat goes to the polls in late 2017), the brute killings by hanging of  Mohammed Mazlum Ansari and his 14-year-old nephew, Mohammed Imteyaz Khan, found hanging on a tree in Jharkhand’s Latehar Balumath block drew no condemnation from the otherwise communicative head of government

 Why then do the Modis, and the Venkaiah Naidus and even law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad speak selectively and occasionally? Do some Indian lives matter more than others?

Unfortunately it seems that they do. The killers of Mohammad Ayub in Gujarat, lynched on the eve of Modi’s visit to his home state were given bail by the higher courts, the killers of Mohammad Mazlum Ansari and Imitiyaz in Latehar have also got out on bail six months ago. Those accused –even falsely of acts of bomb terror –do not get bail, often until the final acquittal. They remain incarcerated.

This imbalance, even prejudice or bias – privileging Mob Terror over Bomb Terror must stop. The Indian establishment must look at the two as two sides of the same coin. Or else we are perpetrating an injustice on our own.

The numbness has finally broken, the post went viral and more and more Indians joined in. This is a good beginning, even if it comes somewhat late. It needs to go farther however, to assert, again and again, in public discourse that Mob Terror is as Vicious as Bomb and to ensure that every police station, ever district collector, every railway policeman functions as the Indian Constitution requires him or her to, and not as per the dictates of the hate-ridden agenda of the sangh parivar.
 

The post As Indians Rise in Protest Against the Mob, Time to assert: Mob Terror is as Vicious & as Dangerous as Bomb Terror appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It took the lynching of 15 year old Junaid to finally pull Indians, even right thinking ones, numbed by the brutality of the post 2014 India, on the streets. Now, prompted by a Facebook post, groups in 12 cities plan protests against lynchings on Wednesday, June 28. Four other locations will hold the protests on other days including in Karachi, Pakistan. It was filmmaker Saba Devan's call for a demonstration in Delhi against a teenager’s murder has prompted groups across India and the world to hold similar events.

The post simply said, "Please take the time out to share this with your friends in respective locations and encourage them to participate. It is imperative that there is large and noticeable participation.Please carry your own banners with the slogan – “NOT IN MY NAME”

This is a citizens’ protest open to all. Everyone is welcome but without party or organizational banners.

The numbness broke, the post went viral and more and more Indians joined in.

Here is a comprehensive list of where, in more than 13 different locations in India and abroad, Indians will protest the fast deterioration of India into a Lynch Republic.

1. Allahabad: 5pm, Subhash Chauraha, Civil Lines, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 211001, India

2. Bangalore: 6pm – 8pm; Bangalore Town Hall, 112 JC Road, Bangalore, India 560027; FB Link here

3. Chandigarh: 6pm; Sector 17, Chandigarh, India 160017; FB Link here

4. Delhi: 6pm – 8pm; Jantar Mantar, Rajiv Chowk, Delhi, India 110001; FB Link here

5. Hyderabad: 4pm – 7pm; Tank Bund, Hyderabad; FB Link here

6. Kochi: 6 pm; High Court Junction, Kochi, Kerala

7. Kolkata: 5pm – 7pm; Dakhinapan premises, next to Madhusudhan Mancha, Dhakuria; FB Link here

8. Lucknow: 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Gandhi Park, GPO, Hazratganj, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001; FB Link here

9. Mumbai: 5pm – 7pm; Carter Road Promenade; FB Link here

11. Trivendrum: 5:30pm – 8pm; Secretariat, Trivendrum, Kerala, India; FB Link here

12. London (UK): 2 pm – 3:30pm; Wednesday, June 28th, 2017; SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, WC1H 0XG, London, United Kingdom; FB link here

Protests on Other days:

1. Boston (USA): 7pm – 8pm, June 29, 2017; Harvard Sq T-stop, Cambridge, Massachusetts, FB link here
2. Pune: 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Thursday, June 29, 2017; Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Statue, Pune Station, Pune, Maharashtra, FB Link here
3. Chennai: 11am – 1:00pm, Saturday, July 1, 2017; Valluvar Kottam, Nungambakkam, Chennai, India 600034; FB link here
4. Karachi (Pakistan): 4pm – 6pm, July 1, 2017; Outside Karachi Press Club, Karachi, Pakistan; FB link here

On Saturday, it was the horror felt after the murder of a 15-year-old Muslim boy in a train on the outskirts of Delhi two days earlier, that Gurgaon-based filmmaker Saba Dewan posted a message on Facebook calling for a protest at Delhi’s Janatar Mantar on Wednesday evening against the recent spate of lynchings of Muslims and attacks on Dalits. The protest is called “Not in My Name”.

Hours before that Prem Singh, socialist and Hindi professor announced a hunger fast that he has been observing since June 25.

“We want to speak up against the recent incidents of communal or caste-based violence that have been happening in the past few years and specifically after Junaid’s lynching,” said Dewan. “We want to convey that whatever is happening in the society is not happening in our name; I do not approve of it.” The message, slowly but surely rippled across India – and as far as the United Kingdom and Canada. On Wednesday, groups in at least nine other Indian cities will hold similar protests. Events are also planned in London and Toronto.

The immediate spark for the protests was the murder of Junaid on a Mathura-bound train on Thursday. He was returning to his home in Faridabad district with his brothers and two friends after some Eid shopping in Delhi. A dispute over a seat led to the boys being assaulted by a group of men who taunted them for being Muslim. Junaid and two of his companions were stabbed. The assailants flung them onto the platform at Asoti railway station. Junaid died soon after.

Series of attacks
Junaid's was the latest in a series of lynchings that started in September 2015, when an ironsmith named Mohammed Akhlaq was murdered in his home in the Uttar Pradesh area of Dadri by a mob that accused him of storing beef in his fridge.

After Junaid, in faraway Jharkhand, 24 year old Mohammad Salman was shot dead in cold blood by policemen simply because he was collecting some private donations for Eid. An armed guard who confessed to the crime has been arrested. Then there were the Jharkhand lynchings (in which 4 Muslims and 3 Hindus died)

Here is a list of all recent mob attacks on Muslims and cattle traders (not complete or comprehensive):
1. Sept 2015: Mohammad Akhlaq lynched in Dadri
2. Oct 2015 Zahid Rasool Bhatt, 16 years, died in a bomb attack on his truck in Udhampur
3.March 2016, suspected "cattle traders" Mohd. Majloom and Azad Khan hanged in Latehar
4. April 2017: Suspected cattle traders Abu Hanifa and Riazuddin Ali killed for allegedly stealing cattle in Assam
5.April 2017: Pehlu Khan died of injuries after being attacked in Alwar
6.Bulandshahr May 2017: Ghulam Mohammad killed for allegedly "helping" an inter-faith couple
7. May 2017: assault on Muslim youths in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh.
8. May 2017 Munna Ansari attacked in Jharkhand on "child lifter" rumour
9. May 2016. Muslim cops thrashed and forced to chant `Jai Bhawani' in Latur, Maharashtra
10. May 2017: Two traders thrashed in malegaon, Maharashtra for allegedly storing beef.
11. Muslim man attacked in Dhanbad, Jharkand on suspicion he was taking beef to an Iftaar. June 7 2017.
12.Tamil Nadu animal husbandry dept officials transporting cattle in trucks attacked in Barmer. 12 June 2017
13. Zafar Husain lynched in Pratapgarh Rajasthan for trying to protect women. June 2017
14.1 lynched, 3 thrashed over beef rumours in Ballabhgarh, Haryana. june 2017
15.A DYSP in Nowhatta Kashmir
And more to come….

In Mumbai, a film writer named Arpita Chatterjee is among those who have called for a “Not In My Name” event on Carter Road in the Bandra area at 6 pm.

“I have been feeling very angry and upset with the developments in our country and when I read about the ‘Not in My Name’ protests against the lynching, but there wasn’t one in Bombay,” said Chatterjee. “I called a few friends and decided to have one in Bombay to show our solidarity to the protests. Everybody was internally seething and immediately agreed they wanted to be a part of something that would enable them to express themselves as citizens. Bombay’s middle class wants its voice to be heard. And that’s what this is about.”

In Kolkata, a protest is planned for 5 pm in the Dakhinapan premises near Madhusudan Mancha, while Hyderabad groups plan to gather at Tank Bund at 4 pm. Bangalore groups plan to protest 6 pm at the Bangalore Town Hall. Thiruvananthapuram has called for a demonstration at the Secreatariat at 5.30 pm and in Kochi, protestors plan to assembly at the Ernakulam High Court junction at 5 pm. In Patna, citizens will gather in Gandhi Maidan at 6 pm. In Lucknow, a demonstration is planned in Hazratganj’s Gandhi Park at 4.30 pm.
In Chennai, a protest has been planned for July 1, at Valluvar Kottam in Nungambakkam.

London and Toronto
In London, an event is planned at SOAS. “Come out and speak out against right-wing organisations hell-bent on destroying the secular ethos of India,” the organisers urged.
In Toronto, a demonstration has been planned outside the Indian High Commission. “We as part of the diaspora, and as overseas citizens of India, along with our allies, say that, the violence against all minorities is abhorrent, and the state must be held accountable for the terror which has been unleashed under its rule,” said the organisers.
Dewan explained that “Not in My Name” protests started in the 1970s against the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam war. It was message from American citizens to their government declaring their opposition to their military’s invasion of Vietnam.

The post Finally, Indians errupt in Outrage Against Brute Lynchings of Innocents #Not in My Name appeared first on SabrangIndia.