On a day when the Prime Minister put his foot in his mouth by saying that ‘footlose migrants’ were responsible for heinous crimes like rape. On a day when the S.O.P – ‘son of a president / sign of a pervert’ – Abhijit Mukherjee said that the protestors were ‘dented and painted’ women, on a day when yet another gang rape was reported in Delhi, and a young woman ended her life in Patiala because the police harassed her in Patiala following her complaint of rape  – hundreds of young women and men, and many not so young and women and men, gathered under the single banner of ‘Justice for Women Now’ at noon in New Delhi, at the Nizamuddin ‘Sabz Burj’ with an intention to march to India Gate. They were stopped at the intersection of Zakir Husain Marg and Subramania Bharati Marg by several cordons of police. The police were arrayed across two intersections, several layers deep. The gathering was unarmed, peaceful, angry, joyous and disciplined. They were faced by a sullen array of police, armed with sticks and tear gas. The police did not let the gathering move towards India Gate, and the peacable, orderly gathering sat on the street for around two hours. There were several television and media crews.The primary demands articulated by the demonstration included ‘fast track’ processes for the 100,000 pending rape and sexual assault cases, the resignation of the police commissioner of Delhi, the drafting of gender sensitive and non-sexist laws, a call for a special session of parliament and a time bound commitment towards a massive expansion of safe public transport for women in metros. Continue reading Justice for Women Now: Protest in New Delhi →