Not In My Name

There were protests across India this evening against the repeated incidents of Mob violence and lynchings in the name of religion. Students, activists, lawyers, artists, politicians all came out to stand on the streets and campaign against violence with posters bearing the words Not In My Name.
Hundreds turned out at Jantar Mantra in Delhi. despite the oppressingly humid evening, people stood there with their placards and sang along to songs about unity, peace, God and Humanity. It was a heartening moment to be a part of, to see how many had turned out to say that they would NOT approve of religion being used as an excuse for violence.

BUT

I came back rather disappointed at what I saw.

What I had gone to the #NotInMyName protest for was this....

Unfortunately what i ALSO got there was a very pointed attempt at focusing on Hindu Muslim polarisation and a narrative that seems to have forgotten all the instances of mob violence against Dalits, women, Police personnel-- all of which were also in the name of religion and by religious fanatics. 

What TRULY disappointed me about the protest was the fact that the "Lynch map" of India that mentions the deaths by frenzied mob had such few and pointed examples ONLY of killing of Muslim men. WHY was this Lynch map not full of the incidents of violence against Dalits? why did the women killed for "being a witch" not find mention in a protest against Religion as excuse for violence? why did the speeches not mention the Kashmiri policemen who live in fear of the stonepelters targeting their families? what about the poor young men killed for "stealing" from somewhere???? don't they deserve the attention that a made for media blitz event like the ANto Violence protest commands??

YES we need to talk about the issue of rampant anti Muslim sentiment being added to in this country, heaven knows many of our towns are one pointless argument away from a full communal riot situation. but that is NOT limited to Hindu vs Muslim riots. We seem to have forgotten an entire spectrum of violence that our society is suffering under

SO yes, while I am proud to say that I attended the protest, on my own time as a private citizen of this country, I came back worried more about the fact that so many victims of mob violence have been consigned to the backburner.. It feel rather that in a bid to challenge the monster of "comunalism" by a particular community

so

to all those who attended, planned, sweated and felt involved in this protest, I would ask one thing..

WHY are we turning a legitimate 'crowdsourced" protest demanding a stop to violence in to a left vs Right, HIndu vs Muslim debate?
because if all that it was meant to be was a public attack against the BJP, the Modi Govt and its allies, while ignoring all other issues of violece atht plague our ocuntry, them i think  then I'm sorry, it ios NOTINMYNAME

six degrees of separation

I have always been a bit unobservant and allowed the sharp edges of the world to blur out a bit when I care to look at it... rather daft for someone in my profession but it is what it is...
one of the ways it has manifested, and it was a part unconscious and part conscious decision at some point in my life.. was to not ask about a person's background.. Now one reason was that being in the college that I was at with the people I was surrounded by, it was just easier to consciously stop considering my friends' backgrounds because it would have made things rather uncomfortable for me had I focused more on WHO they were instead of who THEY were..
today however I realised that the malaise goes deeper.. not that it affects my friendships one whit, but I found out today that someone I've known for a very very long time is connected to circles that I with my family background would not have easily gained access to, or for that matter, felt comfortable, in a social situation, had I known what I was getting into..
a schoolfriend who I have known since before puberty set in got married over the weekend.. Now when we were kids, it never mattered what someone's parents did for a living because we were friends from school who rarely if ever met the parents of other schoolfriends... the people who made up the "family" guest list at the wedding were a surprise to me.. though i suppose I could have asked questions a lot earlier considering the wedding venue and other things... It had just never occurred to me to ask him "bhai what do your parents do?"

mind you, knowing the answer to "do you know who my father is" in today's context has no bearing whatsoever on my relationship with my friend.. but it was rather disconcerting to walk into the gathering, specially as I knew no one except the groom.
whats even stranger is that KS who has been one of my best friends for years now, has connections in this group that made me feel even more of an "outsider"..

I've never really bothered to be conscious of the "social structures" and my place in it vis a vis my background.. Its just the first time in a very very long time that I am acutely conscious of it all..

to cite Jane Austen's world, being a Gentleman's daughter doesn't automatically mean you're ready to mingle with the "Ton"