A section of Mumbai residents decided to take to the streets on Sunday in order to participate in the “March for our lives” movement:
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/977797860027719680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Chiefly “March for our lives” is a movement to implement stricter gun control measures in the United States of America following a mass shooting in a Florida school back in February. The main march under this banner took place in Washington DC which was attended by about 2 lakh demonstrators.
Considering that the matter was chiefly US-centric, the fact that some Mumbai residents were marching for it when India itself doesn’t lack for issues, amused quite a few people:
https://twitter.com/greatbong/status/977944266503749632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/pratyasharath/status/977817487038324736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Wootsaw/status/977818658574499840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/ramprasad_c/status/978130809348673536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Kun_Srivastav/status/977910713250230272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/RMantri/status/977889605725966337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In order to possibly explain their position regarding this march, one of the conveners of the Mumbai march called it an effort to show people in the US that they aren’t alone. He also claimed that the Mumbai marchers stood with the American people in their mission to end gun violence. Calling the march as an awareness movement, he asserted that, as “citizens of the world”, they should make sure gun violence against children should not happen.
While it’s touching to note that the Mumbai residents chose to show solidarity with the Americans, terming the march as a possible gun control “awareness” for Indians, would be a fallacy considering India already has one of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Time is taken to get a gun licence in India usually ranges in years and the rigorous process dates back to the British period when the imperialists actively sought to disarm the Indians.
The Mumbai marchers though aren’t the “odd men out” in this affair considering other cities like London, Sydney and Tokyo too witnessed similar marches.