Dear Friends,
The Not In My Name group in Delhi has called for a protest on 9 August against the unabated mob attacks on minorities. As you are aware Dalit groups have given a call for nation wide strike and the farmers are doing a jail bharo abhiyan on 9 August. We felt that the campaign against mob lynching should also join the protests and raise the issue of communal violence and the free reign given to private militias. Please find below the announcement. Kindly spread the word. We are working on the social media campaign for the protest and the announcement should be up soon. We hope similar protests will be organised in other parts of the country and we can collectively assert our demand - Nothing Less Than Freedom from Hatred and Violence!
In Solidarity!
Saba Dewan | Asif | Sanjay Kak | Siddharth Rai | Banojyotsna Lahiri | Rahul Roy | Mandeep Raikhy | Michael Williams | Nitish Arora | Anatya Vallabh | Lokesh Jain | Devalina Kohli
Bharat Jodo|Do or Die!
Nothing Less Than Freedom From Hatred And Violence
Join The Protest on 9 August, 2018
#NotInMyName
Venue: Parliament Street, New Delhi
Date & Time: Thursday 9 August | 6:00 PM
In the past four years India has been bruised and brutalised by an unending cycle of violence against minorities and Dalits. Vigilantism in the name of cow protection has resulted in the death of 34 people and has left scores injured. Every day in some part of India a Muslim, Christian or a Dalit is either being killed or injured because engineering hate has become the central plank of political mobilisation. Falsehoods, fake news and manufactured data are being utilised to create fear and insecurity all across the country. Citizens have been encouraged to take law in their own hands and form private militias to fight an imaginary enemy who it is being claimed is a threat to Hindus. The fear psychosis has now led to a complete breakdown of law and order with indiscriminate attacks on strangers based on rumours of child kidnapping. Rape is being used as a weapon of war, to instill fear, to claim domination.
India is being ripped apart by hate. Mohsin, Akhlaq, Junaid, Alimuddin, Asifa, Rakbar and so many others are not just names but lives cut short, families destroyed. Through them a message of fear, victory and hatred is being sent to communities they belong to. Political leaders are seen openly garlanding those convicted of lynching, defending vigilantism as the duty of Hindus, leading rallies in support of criminals and issuing threats of more violence. Every day we read of ongoing cases against vigilantes being diluted, willfully compromised and mismanaged. Is this the India of our dreams? A country which is now being referred to as Lynchistan in mainstream media.
On 9 August 1942 inspired by Gandhi ji's call to – Do or Die - lakhs of Indians across the country had come out of their homes, staked their all to be part of the Quit India movement with Nothing Less Than Freedom as their demand. Today India is again confronted with a Do or Die moment in its tryst with democracy. Either we stand up against hatred and violence and say that it is Not In My Name or we will all perish.
The time has come to re-pledge ourselves to build an India that belongs to all; an India that has no space for discrimination based on religion, caste, gender or any other social difference. Babasaheb Ambedkar had reminded us that political democracy established through the value of one man one vote does not establish a social democracy unless inequality is removed. The politics of hate that surrounds us today is about maintaining inequalities, about ensuring the dominance of those who stand against the promises of the Indian constitution. Today we have to declare that we want Nothing Less Than Freedom From Hatred! Bharat Jodo! Do or Die!
We demand –
1. Immediate implementation of the Supreme Court directives of 17 July 2018 to prevent vigilantism.
2. Exemplary prosecution of all political and public figures who through action or speech support vigilantism.
3. Immediate dismissal of the government of Rajasthan for its failure to protect citizens against hate crimes.
4. Immediate financial support to all who have suffered attacks by vigilante groups.
5. An independent central monitoring mechanism of all vigilante cases in different parts of the country to ensure justice and a fair trial.
