Winter of discontent
City’s fashion fraternity during the protest march
The cops tried their best to disperse the crowd demonstrating at India Gate by firing tear gas and lathi charge on Saturday. But the protestors braved it all and continued with protesting. They were not scared; the only thing they wanted was justice for the 23-year-old physiotherapy student who was gangraped in the capital.
Aakriti Malhotra, a college student and volunteer with an NGO, didn’t think twice about joining the protest at India Gate. She feels that till the time you don’t show the administration that you want justice, it’s not going to take action.
“The government acts as if it is deaf and dumb. Like many other rape cases in the past, this too would have become a pending file in the court if we had not come out on the roads. I am happy that it’s not just me but thousands of others who feel the same and are standing up to fight for justice,” she says.
Navneet Sidana, a final year engineering student, marched from India Gate to Raisina Hills and back to India Gate with a group of 20 friends shouting slogans against the cops, government and rapists.
“To punish the culprits, mass protest is important. How can the rapists who were so brutal with the girl be left let off without any harsh action? Being a guy, I know the shame this incident has brought to the entire male community. But I know there are good souls still around to fight for justice for the girl,” says Navneet, who wants death penalty for the rapists. He had his group were shouting the slogan, “Hang them now, now means now.”
Other slogans at the venue were: “Rape karne walon ki… kaat daalon saalon ki”, “Naari jaati ka apmaan, nahi sahega ab Hindustan”. There were also slogans that blamed the government, cops and judiciary.
While most of the youngsters had turned up to show their solidarity, some were sceptical if even a mass protest like this would lead to conclusive change.
Kanika Dhillon, a post-graduate student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, felt that there should be an organised community that can speak about the demands of the public.
“The protest that is going on is big, but it doesn’t have a voice of unity. We need something better to eradicate such heinous crimes from our society altogether,” she says.
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