Singing, dancing, mark 'One Billion Rising' campaign

New Delhi, Feb 14: Crossing arms, shuffling their feet, and singing "Rise Delhi! End violence against

!" about 50 young men and women took part in a flash mob Thursday morning at Dilli Haat, as a part of the global campaign 'One Billion Rising'.

"This Valentine's Day, apart from exchanging gifts and expressing love, let's join the OBR campaign, which aims to gather women and men from all walks of life to pledge their commitment to ending violence against girls and women," said Megha Mishra, a college student in the flash mob.

Flash mob is an impromptu gathering of people at a public place who perform an unsusal song or a jig for a brief time and disperse, to raise an issue, to make a social protest, or to create awareness on an issue.

Similar flash mobs gathered at different parts of Delhi and in the National Capital Region, with street plays and dance dramas. The campaign urges young people to walk out on the streets, dance, rise up and demand an end to all forms of violence against women.

"This is a new struggle for freedom, for freedom from violence for women. The next such event will happen on March 8, International Women's Day," Kamla Bhasin, south asian coordinator, OBR campaign, said.

Flash mob dances are being organised in various parts of the city by a group of NGOs, throughout the day. This is part of a global campaign, and over 150 countries are participating in the "One Billion Rising" campaign.

Participants will meet at the Parliament Street police station in central Delhi around 5 p.m. for a last, collective performance.

"We expect at least 2,000 people to show up for the flash mob dance, and we will dance to the song 'Jaago Dilli Jaago' composed specially for the event," said Padmini Krishnan, one of the organisers.

An estimate by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDF) for Women shows that at least one of every three women in the world is beaten, raped, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In most cases, the abuser is a member of her own family.

IANS