A peaceful demonstration protesting the genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza was carried out on Saturday, July 19, at the famous tech market in Nehru Place, Delhi. More than 50 people gathered in solidarity with Palestinians, carrying Palestinian flags and banners at around 12:30 PM in the centre of the Nehru Place market.

Soon, a huge group of right-wing people arrived at Nehru Place to oppose the protest and started threatening the participants of the protest. A mob also started to throw mud at the participants from the first floor, and a significantly large number of right-leaning people started shouting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram,” “Har Har Mahadev,” and “Vande Mataram.”
Gradually, the right-wing mob started to get bigger, while many of them started to abuse the participants and threaten them with statements like, “If you want to protest, go and do it in Palestine, not here.”

What Protesters Say

Jean Drèze, an Indian economist and social activist, part of the peaceful demonstration at Nehru Place, told a national multimedia news agency that, “He did not raise any slogans and started to protest peacefully, but we were stopped from protesting. We are here not only to oppose the genocide in Gaza and demand an emergency ceasefire, but also to expose the complicity of the Indian government to perform the right to protest… The current situation, whether the government gives you permission or not, we have a duty to speak out…”

“The government is with Israel because it depends on Israel for tech technologies, especially defence surveillance technology. It has many commercial ties with Israel. The Palestinians are powerless. They have nothing to offer, so naturally the Indian government is taking the side of Israel. But we are with the Palestinian people, and the sentiments of the Indian public, I think, are also with the Palestinian people.”
Other students, university professors, artists, activists, citizens, and representatives from other social organisations also participated in the Nehru Place demonstration, which was completely non-violent and peaceful.

Activist Harsh Mander also criticised the double standards of the Delhi Police, who were mute spectators as the right-wing mob tried to assert themselves on the peacefully protesting crowd. Eventually, the Delhi Police personnel present at the site started asking people protesting peacefully to leave the area as they were not allowed to protest