This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Photos: How Hundreds Stood Up Against Lynchings At The #NotInMyName Vigils

'Shed hate, not blood'.
HuffPost Staff

After the news of the killing of 17-year-old Hafiz Junaid inside a Mathura-bound train near Delhi hit the headlines right before Eid, independent film maker Saba Dewan, in a Facebook post, called people to gather at the earliest and protest under the banner 'Not In My Name'.

To protest the recent rise in incidents of lynching of Muslims and Dalits, citizens gathered in multiple cities across the country this evening. Protests have been planned even in London, Karachi and Cambridge.

The one at Delhi's Jantar Mantar started with condolences to Hafiz Junaid and Pehlu Khan's families. Pehlu Khan was a 55-year-old dairy farmer who was beaten and killed by 'gau-rakshaks' in Rajasthan for allegedly being a cattle smuggler. Family members of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob on suspicion of keeping beef in his home in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh two years ago, and others were present at the event.

Here are glimpses of the protests.

Holding placards that read: "Break the Silence", "No Place for Islamophobia" and "Shed Hate not Blood" among others, the protesters said they had gathered to send out a message that there is a need to unite for a cause.

A stage was erected with a map of India on it with dots for locations where such incidents have taken place in recent times. At the protest, which was to be a "silent protest", there were songs and speeches calling for communal harmony.

People also gathered in front of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London to protest against the spate in mob lynchings in India.

In Mumbai, people braved rains to come out in large numbers. Actors Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sena Sharma, Rajat Kapoor and Ranvir Shorey and social media activist Arpita Chatterjee were among those who participated in the protest held at Carter Road in suburban Bandra.

Azmi said these are not isolated incidents and there is a need for a stringent law against the perpetrators.

'Govt should go out of the way to bring justice in lynching cases' @RanvirShorey to CNN-News18 #NotInMyNamepic.twitter.com/4xbLcwal9J

— Not in My Name (@NotinMyNameInd) June 28, 2017

Great crowd at the jantar mantar protest in Delhi #NotInMyNamepic.twitter.com/EfjeiYLuG1

— Nidhi Razdan (@RazdanNidhi) June 28, 2017

In Kolkata, among the protesters was filmmaker Aparna Sen. She said she was protesting against something which "we do not support and that is attacking any religious community".

'Not In My Name' resonates in the South, citizens hold protest in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kerala https://t.co/PYsv2IfgwZpic.twitter.com/MMuPVxgyfy

— TheNewsMinute (@thenewsminute) June 28, 2017

With inputs from agencies

Also on HuffPost India

INDIA-STUDENTS-SUICIDE-PROTEST

Students Protest Dalit Suicide

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.