"Through this protest which brought many Indians in the British diaspora together, we would like to urge the (Indian) government to enact stronger laws against mob lynching and expedite the trials and deliver justice,” Ruzbeh Hodiwala, co-founder and president of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) India Society, was quoted on freepresskashmir.com on June 30, 2017.
"We wanted to support our fellow countrymen who were organizing the ‘Not In My Name’ protests in Indian cities,” added Hodiwala who hails from Ahmedabad and is currently pursuing his MA in Iranian Studies at SOAS. He was one of the organizers of the protest on June 28 that started at SOAS and ended at Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Tavistock Square, about five minutes’ walk from SOAS. Members of SOAS India Society felt the urgency to support the cause and instantly decided to organize a demonstration to protest the incidences of mob lynching in India, and condemn the communal nature they possess,” asserted Hodiwala.
Ruzbeh Hodiwala (right) with supporters of "Not In My Name" protest
The names of all victims were read and candles were lit in the Tavistock Square garden as a mark of respect to the deceased. While welcoming the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that killing in the name of cow protection is not acceptable, Hodiwala hoped Modi’s government "acts on his words and cracks down on all those who have been spreading hatred in the name of cow protection.”
"By no means were we acting as activists on any cross-border whims or any domestic partisan agenda as some would have the nation believe,” clarified SOAS India Society co-president Daneeh Majid. According to Kashmiri origin novelist Nitasha Kaul who joined in the protest, whether it was complicit tolerance of lynching of slaves in 19th century America or the current lynching in India, "it is important that we stand up collectively to this violence and say ‘Not In My Name.’”
Well-known academicians at SOAS and other members of the Indian diaspora supported the protest, noted a brief report by Malcolm Deboo, president of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe.