#NotinMyName Protests in Delhi Over Murder of Afrajul in Rajasthan

#NotinMyName protesters demanded the dismissal of Raje govt after Bengal man Afrazul was burnt alive in Rajasthan.

Under the #NotInMyName banner, protesters gathered in New Delhi on 6 Decemberto condemn the communal killing of Bengal man Afrajul in Rajasthan.

(Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

Mohammed Afrajul (Afrazul), a 50-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal, was hacked and burnt alive by a man named Shambhu Lal Regar in Rajasthan in the first week of December. The chilling murder was captured on video, which was circulated on social media.

Around 150 to 200 people from civil society gathered in Delhi to condemn the killing of Mohammed Afrajul by Shambu Lal Regar. (Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

“There were WhatsApp groups that were made after the video was widely shared. One group was named “Swacch Bharat”. Is this the kind of Swacch Bharat we want in the country?” Nadeem Asrar asked.

The journalist and former president of the Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union, was speaking at a protest on 13 December, where around 150 to 200 people from civil society gathered at Parliament street in the National Capital to protest the killing.

The protest, under the #NotInMyName banner, was themed “I am Muslim. I am India”. Speaking at the protest, organiser Saba Dewan demanded the immediate dismissal of the Vasundhra Raje government in Rajasthan over what she alleged was their inaction over a number of hate crimes in the recent past.

Crowd listens intently to the poetry at the protest to condemn the murder of Afrazul. (Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

The kid who recorded the video was the nephew of the killer. Not once did his hands shake during the recording of the brutal murder. 

Nadeem Asrar, journalist and former president of the Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union

Nadeem Asrar, journalist and former president of Aligarh Muslim University Student Union at the #NotInMyName protest.(Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

Mohammed Amir Khan, who spent 14 years in prison after being wrongly accused of being a terrorist told the crowd at the protest that the atmosphere of hate in the country made him worry for the safety of his children.

Nine-year-old-Mihika listens intently as she poses with a poster that she made using an outline of her finger at theprotest(Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

We (Indian Muslims) are Indians by choice and not by chance. We chose to stay back in India during Partition. The country belongs to us as much as it belongs to Hindus. 

Mohammed Amir Khan, co-author of <i>Framed as a Terrorist </i>

Journalist and author Huma Qureshi at the Not in my Name protest in Delhi on 13 December. (Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

Speaking at the protest, Veteran Urdu poet Gulzar Dehlvi said: “There’s a weird thing, A thousand years ago, the 32 Hindu estates were separate. They had separate banks, separate armies, separate capitals. Who brought them together? From Peshawar to Darjeeling, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari... Who made it all one? Sher Shah Suri. Hebuilt a road to join east to west and north to south”

Poet Gulzar Dehlvi speaks at the Not in My Name held in memory of Afrajul in Delhi.(Photo: Natisha Mallick/The Quint)

It was the Britishers who played the divide and rule policy among the Hindus and Muslims. “<i>Hindu Hindi Hindustan, Urdu Muslim Pakistan” – </i>this disgraceful thought was sowed in the minds of people. Now, the same thing is happening yet again.&nbsp;

Gulzar Dehlvi, Poet