How does a country rise in protest?
‘Not in My Name’, a protest against the recent spate of mob-lynching in India was held on 28 June 2017 in at least ten cities in the country; with more protests planned in the first week of July in Chennai and Pune. Started as a Facebook event by Gurugram-based documentary filmmaker Saba Dewan, ‘Not in My Name’ galvanised public anger in the country, with enormous number of people turning up in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Lucknow and London.
Along the way, it became a trending hashtag on Twitter and made front-page newspaper headlines. A day after the simultaneous protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted the following,
Clearly, the protests had made their mark.
But how did a one-city event become a nation-wide phenomenon? Who were the people who took up the mantle of ‘Not in My Name’ in cities far away from Delhi, where the event originated? Was it an organic outpouring of anger, and if so, what does this mean for powers-that-be and social movements in India?
The Quint speaks to organisers of ‘Not in My Name’ protests in seven cities, to understand the logistics, and the anger behind the protests.
In Delhi, A Facebook Event Starts It All
On 24 June, Saba Dewan created a Facebook event called ‘Not in My Name’ and posted the event on her wall asking for a citizens’ silent protest against mob lynching at Jantar Mantar at 6 pm in Delhi.
By next day, the event was shared on hundreds of Facebook timelines. Speaking to The Quint, Anatya Vallabh, a volunteer who was involved in organising the ‘Not in My Name’ said social media played an important role in spreading the word about the protests,
Once the event was posted it quickly became popular. What really helped was that everyone was sharing the event on Facebook, and so the Facebook algorithms made the event visible by next day. Usually, there is a PR team which takes care of publicity for these events. But here, we had people sharing the event on their own.
As a volunteer, Vallabh worked with a group of people to organise the event in Jantar Mantar while simultaneously dealing with requests from people who wanted to organize ‘Not in My Name’ in their cities. But what led to the large turnout in Jantar Mantar?
The mob-lynching happened close to Delhi. It’s always been true for middle class that they come out when something happens so close to them, I think. It was spontaneous anger, and even people who were debating or critiquing the name, were out on the streets.
In Mumbai, The Middle-Class Raises Its Voice
For Kamayani, a human rights activist and one of the organisers of the ‘Not in My Name’ protest in Bombay, the protest reminded her of the anger in support for Dr. Binayak Sen. She says,
This was a protest where we saw the middle-class, people who never come out, participate. Whether online or offline, the outrage crossed boundaries.
The Mumbai protest was largely planned on Facebook. Students pitched in to help and designers worked on artwork, which was shared and used to make raincoats and ponchos. They relied on emails, Twitter hashtags and Whatsapp to spread the word.
This protest could build a momentum to get human rights into the center stage. The nuances of the protest may have been different, but definitely the middle class has had a coming out on the streets.
In Chennai, A Protest in The Works
Chennai-based behavioural scientist Yogesh Parmar is a busy man these days. He is organizing the ‘Not in My Name’ protest in Chennai scheduled on 1 July and he is calling and Whatsapp-ing people to inform them about it.
A week earlier, on Monday, Parmar had written a piece about a photo of Junaid’s dead body. The piece went viral on social media, with Parmar receiving threats. Instead, Parmar decided to organise ‘Not in My Name’ in his city. He says,
It is a spontaneous combustion, and the last time it happened on this scale, was during Anna Hazare’s time. This is the same kind of defining moment and groundswell.
In Chandigarh, A Last-Minute Call for Solidarity
When Amy Singh, a poet and activist, heard about the ‘Not in My Name’ protest in Delhi, she waited for someone to organise a similar event in Chandigarh. But when nothing materialised, even a day before the planned protest in 28 June in Delhi, she put out a call on Facebook.
She shared the Facebook event with her friends, and much to her surprise, a large number of people turned up on a rainy day to participate in ‘Not in My Name’ in Chandigarh. She says,
Chandigarh is a dead city as far as the protests are concerned; only students participate in protests which are usually organised for issues of fee-hike and such. But, for ‘Not in My Name’, people from all walks of life came out; families with babies in prams, students, elderly people.
In London, Students Make a Statement
Kunal Purohit is a co-founder of SOAS India Society, a body of students who are interested in engaging with issues in India. They had already been planning to engage with mob lynching in India when they heard of ‘Not in My Name’ protest in Delhi through the news.
That’s when we felt that it was important to make a statement from here in London, from the people who care about India, that the happenings were unacceptable. It is important that those carrying out these lynchings, as well as those in power, who have been complicit in their silence, know that this will not be tolerated.The SOAS India Society
A Facebook event page was created, the event was shared on Facebook by the Delhi organisers and once the media started writing about it, people started showing their support.
Unlike other cities in India, the organisers in London had a unique challenge; to ensure that the context of mob lynching in India was explained with respect to recent events. And what was the protest like? The SOAS India Society says,
The anger and disappointment was so widespread that people from various walks of life joined in and made these protests happen across the globe. In fact, so many people at the protests came up to us and thanked us for organising it. The speakers at our protests, the causes they espoused and their reasons for joining the protest also reflected this larger anger.
In Bengaluru, Strangers Come Together
Karthik Venkatesh heard about the ‘Not in My Name’ protest in Delhi from Facebook, and was taken aback by people’s responses to the event. He wrote to Saba Dewan, who’s incidentally his Facebook friend, asking if he could use the ‘Not in My Name’ for a similar protest in Bengaluru. He says,
In any social media event, you don’t know people, you don’t know anything about their life, you just know them by name. Six hundred people had said they would come, but I think in the end, more people turned up.
In Pune, A Group of Social Activists Take to Streets
Alka Joshi, convener of Lokayat, a social organization in Pune, is a happy woman. The ‘Not in My Name’ march in the city was a success; with more than a thousand people estimated to have made their presence felt. Speaking to The Quint, she explains the impetus behind the protest,
We thought that if the same protest happens in different cities, then there will be a strength of vision. Humein laga kahin na kahin baat karni chahiye. You never know when it comes to you. The enemy is so big, that even if we all come together, it won’t be enough.
American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said, “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.” The idea being that a democracy is often defined by the dissent it witnesses at moments of strife. An organic outpouring of anger – not backed by a political organisation – like the one seen during ‘Not in My Name’ is an important expression of dissent.
What remains to be seen though, is where the anger leads us.
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