Filmmaker’s Facebook post brings hundreds to protest mob lynching

Mumbai, June 28

Hundreds gathered in cities across the country to protest mob violence targeted at Muslims and Dalits on Wednesday.

Protests that went under the rubric ‘Not in My Name’ saw actors such as Shabana Azmi and Konkona Sena Sharma participate in protests held at Carter Road in suburban Bandra on Wednesday evening.

Similar protests were held in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru.

Protesters marched silently, holding posters and placards bearing slogans. "Killing over food. Not in my Name," read a placard.

"Today's protest was against the savage culture of mob lynching," journalist and author Rana Ayyub said.

The anti-lynching movement has gained traction after Saba Dewan, a documentary filmmaker, posted on Facebook about a protest she wanted to organise at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

A member of the Bandra West Residents Association, who participated in today's protest, said the campaign, started with the hashtag #NotInMyName, is an attempt to `reclaim the Constitution' and resist the `onslaught' on the right to life and equality.

The protests come immediately after a 16-year-old was stabbed in a train in Haryana in a hate crime. PTI/Agencies