Lucknow’s streets echoed with voices as activists, NGOs, students, bikers, rock bands, LGBTQIA+ members, persons with special needs, and schoolchildren marched from 1090 Chauraha to Lohia Park to protest the Supreme Court’s proposed relocation and caging of street dogs in a rally titled Halla Bol, Pinjra Tod.
Gaurav Prakash, Akash Prakash & Anurag Mishra
(L) Aisha Ameen (R) Amit Sehgal and Dipika Kapoor
(L) Caroline Borges (R) Charu Saxena & Dr Pooja Singh
Animal lovers and activists from Jeev Ashraya, Jeev Basera and Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, walked in coordinated T-shirts bearing the message, ‘Recall, Review, Reconsider the Order.’ Around 50 girls from NGO Innovation for Change marched alongside the activists in self-designed outfits, carrying cages as symbols of resistance. Rakhi Kishore, one of the organisers helming the rally, took to the mic and led the crowd in the defining chant of the afternoon, Halla Bol, Pinjra Tod.’ Poulomi Pavini Shukla, an advocate said that there was a more humane solution to managing strays than just caging them for life.
(L) Dev Mukerjee & Vishakha Chatterjee (R) Dr Indu
Dr Vishakha Shukla, Ankita Bajpai, Sophie Sharma, Naveen Singh & Narendra Yadav
(L-R) Kavita, Abhyanand Mishra & Dr Vivek Biswas
The march also drew participants from Delhi, including filmmaker and animal rights activist Sankshay Babber, who spoke about his proposal called Man’s Best Friend, opposing the pounding of animals. The procession moved to chants of song ‘Kar Har Maidan Fateh’, with some commuters joining the rally midway and culminating at Lohia Park where band performances were put up by RJ Bhakti Beats and Meri Zindagi Band in support of animal welfare brought the day to a close.— Amina Ashraf
(L) Poulomi Pavini Shukla (R) Prateek Yadav
Sophie Sharma & Naveen Singh
