Picture : Twitter / ANI
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong democracy activists gathered for a major rally to show the city’s leaders their protest movement still attracts wide public support despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.
AFP had reported, that ten weeks of demonstrations have plunged the financial hub into crisis with images of masked black-clad protesters engulfed by tear gas during street battles with riot police stunning a city once renowned for its stability.
Communist-ruled mainland China has taken an increasingly hardline tone towards the protesters, decrying the “terrorist-like” actions of a violent hardcore minority among the demonstrators.
Despite the near-nightly clashes with police, the movement has won few concessions from Beijing or the city’s unelected leadership.
On Tuesday, protesters blocked passengers from boarding flights at the city’s airport and later assaulted two men they accused of being Chinese spies.
The images damaged a campaign that until then had largely targeted the police or government institutions, and prompted an apology from some of the protest groups.
Sunday’s rally at the city’s Victoria Park is an attempt to wrestle the narrative of the protest back.
It is a “rational, non-violent” demonstration, according to organisers the Civil Human Rights Front, the driving force behind record-breaking rallies in June and July that saw hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets.
Police have given permission for the rally to go ahead but banned a proposed march.
Previous bans on marches have been ignored by protesters, leading to clashes with riot police.
“We expect a huge number of participants… we hope to show to the world Hong Kong people can be totally peaceful,” Bonnie Leung, a spokeswoman for the Civil Human Rights Front told reporters.
