Protests are continuing unabated on the streets and on social media over the Hathras atrocity, with those who had been somnolent till recently also stirring into action.
Demonstrations were held in 28 cities on Sunday, and sanitation workers went on strike at several cities in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
By nightfall, Twitter users posted messages using the hashtags “DalitLivesMatter”, “IfWeDoNotRise” and “RiseWithRage”. Pictures and videos of protests were shared widely, as were news and statistics on atrocities.
Delhi-based activist Shabnam Hashmi said: “The #IfWeDoNotRise campaign involving putting out poems, visual images and graphics and talks yesterday got around 15 lakh views across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The (number of) participants has grown much beyond the activist community and those who are generally vocal on these issues…. While street protests will necessarily be smaller due to the pandemic, social media is a major vehicle.”
Instagram, a picture-sharing platform used relatively less for protests, was flooded with artwork condemning Hathras atrocity and the administrative harassment of the family.
“Especially in Mumbai, artists organised themselves. Shireen Gandhi of the Chemould Art Gallery wrote to artists to put out their work as part of the campaign,” Hashmi said.
Mumbai-based theatre and film personality Joy Sengupta said: “There are broadly three spaces post-2014 — those who uphold constitutional values, the Right wing, and the confused. People in the third space have begun to listen to their conscience, particularly after the economy has collapsed. They still may not be fully convinced that demonetisation was bad, or may associate lynchings with cattle theft and so on. But they feel disturbed, especially about the future of their children, when they see hatred all around.”