Not In My Name: Read Renuka Shahane's moving post against mob lynchings, culture of hate

Another senseless hate crime was committed in the name of religion recently, in a country that prides itself as being a secular nation. [caption id=“attachment_3756483” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Renuka Shahane holds up the Constitution of India. Image from Facebook.[/caption] Hafiz Junaid (17) was stabbed to death while his brothers Hashim and Sakir — were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them on-board the Delhi-Mathura passenger train between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations on Thursday night. People watched and even encouraged the mob who proceeded to repeatedly stab Hafiz Junaid with a knife, all the while branding him “anti-national.” His crime was that the food packet that he was carrying allegedly contained beef in it. The bleeding youth was then dumped in Asaoti village in Faridabad district by the perpetrators. The brothers had been returning home after doing their Eid shopping from Delhi. Protest marches against the crime called 'Not In My Name'  are being held all across the country — starting from Carter Road in Mumbai, to Jantar Mantar in Delhi all the way over to Kolkata amongst various other states pan-India. Transcending national borders, protest marches are even being held in Boston and London. Bollywood actress Renuka Shahane is another such protestor — having been considerably shaken up by the senseless lynching. The actress took to Facebook to voice her thoughts over the crime in an emotional post where she shared that her elder son will turn 16 next year. She talked about how she did not want the ‘blood of innocents’ on her hands. Detailing how she has participated in various protests over the years against other crimes that have happened in the past, the actress put forth her impassioned thoughts on the subject. She also reminded us to ‘respect’ and ‘protect’ the tenets of the Constitution of India. Here is her Facebook post that went viral soon after it was shared.

(With inputs from PTI)