Towards A Hate Free Society: Let’s End Lynching

A one day programme titled “Towards A Hate Free Society: Let’s End Lynching” was organised in Loyola Hall of St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru on 16th July, 2019. The programme began at 5:00 PM with a street play on lynching and discrimination, organised by students from Christ (deemed to be) University, which set the tone for the evening. The three speakers were felicitated and introduced to the gathering. The first speaker Mr. Harsh Mander spoke about how majority of the victims of lynching belong to the religious minority and lower caste. He also spoke and defined hate crimes as crimes that are committed not because of one’s activities but because of one’s identity. The next speaker, Ms. Vidya Dinkar was then invited to provide her view on the raging topic. Ms. Dinkar spoke more in terms of her experiences in Mangalore. She raised the important issue of how hate crimes are hidden and forged as  different cases at police stations. The final speaker, Mr. Sharib A. Ali stated that there had been 948 cases of lynching, half of which had occurred due to religious reasons. At around 07:45 PM, the question and answer session began. There were many enthusiasts from different fields present among the audience who raised different questions on this issue, which the speakers answered. The programme concluded at 08:30 PM.