New Delhi: Karwan-e-Mohabbat is a journey across parts of India which are worst affected by lynching to respond to the everyday fear of Muslims, Dalits and Christians, and the worrying silences of the majority.
The major aim of the Karwan will be to visit families which have suffered from lynch attacks to offer our atonement and solidarity. In advance of the visit, a team will visit them and try to constitute an ‘aman’ committee, with members of Muslim, Dalit and Hindu groups (and Adivasi and Christian where applicable). These ‘aman’ committees will commit to support the family for justice and livelihoods, and promote amity, goodwill, and peace in the larger community.
A light to fight the darkness
As lynchings threaten to grow into a national epidemic, Indian Muslims are learning to endure an intense sense of foreboding – a lurking, unnamed, unspoken fear. This is not simply the apprehension of discrimination, it is the danger of imminent violence, of being vulnerable to attack anywhere – on a public road, on a bus or train, in a marketplace, even in their homes. In tribal regions, Christian people feel a mounting dread. Dalits, who have so long lived with everyday violence and humiliation, are fearful of attacks for pursuing their caste vocation of skinning cows.
How culpable are we when our brothers and sisters are burned and lynched and we stand by?
We need to interrogate the reasons for our silences, for our failures to speak out, and to intervene when murderous hate is unleashed on innocent lives. We need our conscience to ache. We need it to be burdened intolerably.
Darkness can never be fought with darkness, only light can dispel the enveloping shadows. To speak to our collective silences, we propose to embark, with as many comrades who wish to join, on a journey of shared suffering, of solidarity, of atonement and of love.
Here is what you can do to:
- Join the journey to travel through the country and build support structures for victims of mob violence and their families, while spreading a message of love and harmony for all neighbouring communities at large.
- Contribute funds towards their most essential costs on their campaign, and share with as many people as you can. You can contribute at this link: https://www.bitgiving.com/karawanemohabbat
- Tell your friends and family about the Karawan, talk about what’s happening all around us
- Share & Like Karwan-e-Mohabbat’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KarwaneMohabbat/ and Twitter: @karwanemohabbat
More about the Karwan: The journey will begin from Assam on 4th September and end at Porbandar in Gujarat on 2nd October, and along the way, we will travel through Jharkhand, Karnataka, Delhi, Western UP, Rajasthan, Mhow-MP, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh & Gujarat.
For further details can visit website https://www.karwanemohabbat.in/ or write to Karwan-e-Mohabbat at mohabbatkarwan@gmail.com.