Celebs unite to protest, condemn lynching

Celebrities continue to come out in strong condemnation of mob lynchings -- which a day earlier ignited nationwide protests under the banner "NotInMyName".

On Thursday, actors Dia Mirza, Arjun Kapoor and Aditi Rao Hydari and director Hansal Mehta denounced the killing of innocent people in the name of religion and cow protection.

This came after noted actor Shabana Azmi and others from Bollywood joined the Wednesday campaign held in several cities across the country.

Mehta, known for films like "Aligarh", "Shahid" and "CityLights", tweeted: "Not all protests are an attack on the government or religion. They are a call to action and deserve impartial response from the establishment. Our democracy is still alive and vibrant. #NotinMyName marches are a welcome reminder that 'desh so nahi raha'. The mob may please note."

Arjun posted: "Finally the right use of a democracy and a protest to put forth a point of view in a non-violent way mob lynching has to end #NotInMyName."

Aditi tweeted: "Huge pride in standing firmly for what I believe my country should be, and the reality of what it's not #NotInMyName."

Dia shared: "What is #NotInMyName #MobLynching? We are protesting murder in the name of 'religion', 'food', 'culture', 'gender'. We are one people #NotInMyName."

An event was organised under the banner of "#NotInMyName" close on the heels of the lynching and murder of 16-year-old Junaid in a train following an argument that turned communal.

At the protest, there were songs and speeches calling for communal harmony. The most significant of the lynchings was that of Mohammad Akhlaq in 2015, father of an Indian Air Force personnel, who was killed by a mob on suspicion that beef was kept in his house in Dadri, on the outskirts of the national capital.

In April 2017, a dairy farmer was killed after being attacked in Alwar district of Rajasthan by self-styled cow vigilantes as he was taking cows for his dairy.

On Wednesday, Shabana shared that there were "apolitical protests by citizens from all over India" and stressed the need for a "law against #MobLynching".

Actress Nimrat Kaur posted: "In complete and absolute solidarity with the #NotInMyName movement. Just hope that this leads to effective and immediate action".

Actor Varun Dhawan also extended his "support to the #NotInMyName movement".

--IANS

sug/nn/vt