There may be little to connect Chibok in Nigeria and Thiruvananthapuram.
But on Sunday evening, a candlelight vigil held in solidarity with the people in this remote village a continent away showed that the capital was not oblivious to the terrible events in Nigeria.
It has been over a month since 234 girls were abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
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The world-wide social media campaign to ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ spilled over to the Manaveeyam Veedhi here during an event organised jointly by the Indus Cycling Embassy and the Manaveeyam Kootaima.
What began as a small group of cyclists getting together for their routine workout grew into what appeared to be nearly 100 people.
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Members of ‘Sthree Kootaima’, including prominent women’s rights activists Mercy Alexander, Parvathy Devi, Balamani, and Suneetha Balakrishnan were also present.
For the benefit of those who were unaware about these tragic developments in Nigeria, they spoke about that fateful night and the helplessness of the parents of the school girls whose whereabouts are still unknown.
“We live in a world where communal tensions and religious warfare shows no sign of abating. During these confrontations, it is often innocent women and children who are caught in the fray,” said Ms. Devi. She called upon those present not to be indifferent to this abduction simply because of geographical distance. People here must take an active stance in campaigning, in spreading awareness and building pressure on governments to help their counterpart find and rescue the girls, she said.
A cycle rally was first held, with participants holding up banners saying ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ — a slogan that become synonymous with the Nigerian kidnappings.
What drew passers-by to this group was the folk music performed by APT Performance and Research and Abhinaya Theatre Troupe.
As the music played through most of the evening, children lit candles to form the text ‘Save Our Girls’ on the pavement in solidarity for the missing girls.