Members of Wake Up India Foundation in their freezing act at Dangratoli Chowk in Ranchi on Sunday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Remember Bokaro girl Sonali Mukherjee, who was almost blinded and whose face was permanently disfigured by an acid attack at her then-hometown Dhanbad in 2003?

To counter the horror of acid attack comes the freeze mob campaign. Wake Up India Foundation, a Delhi-based organisation with its chapter in Jharkhand, on Sunday brought commuters and pedestrians near Dangratoli Chowk to a standstill between 2pm and 2.07pm with a strong message — “stop violence against women, stop acid attacks”.

What they called a freeze mob act — the first in the city — was simple yet effective.

NGO members holding posters literally froze on the road mid-action, as if a magic wand had turned them into statues.

“Through the freeze mob campaign, we want to symbolically express how life for acid attack victims freezes in time,” said Shweta Chauhan, campaign and advocacy coordinator, Wake Up India Foundation, Jharkhand chapter.

The foundation members also displayed slogans relevant to Ranchi where girls in jeans, skirts and salwar kameezes alike draw stares and lewd remarks.

“Watch your thoughts, not my clothes,” said one. In Hindi, it was even more striking: “Mere kapde nahin, apni soch ko badlo,” it said, voicing the thoughts of many girls.

“We contact people for a freeze mob through social media, text messages, Whatsapp and posters. People gather and stand still, which is known as freeze, for a few minutes at a public arena,” said Ankita Kashyap, one of the organisers.

Deepali Sharma, a member of the foundation, added that the freeze mob was simultaneously held in Delhi and Ranchi.

Some sported dark sunglasses. Member Anjali Sharma said it symbolised blindness of acid attack victims. “Every year, women are killed, blinded or scarred for life for rejecting suitors, defying customs or getting caught as pawns in family feuds or land disputes. This should stop,” she said.

Interestingly, Wake Up India Foundation, which is now a pan-India network of students in Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore and Dhanbad committed to drive social and political change in India, started in 2010 at BIT, Lalpur extension.

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