The weekend protest near India Gate was a rare sight in Delhi ~ citizens braving the city’s toxic haze to demand clean air. It was not a political rally nor a populist show of strength. It was an act of desperation. When hundreds of men, women and children assemble wearing masks and carrying banners that read “Right to live, not just survive,” it signals a collective breaking point. Delhi’s air has become unbreathable, and the city’s residents have begun to realise that silence equals complicity.

The protest, though peaceful, struck a deeper chord. For years, Delhiites have lived with air quality levels that would trigger public health emergencies elsewhere in the world. The Air Quality Index crossing 400 – categorised as “severe” ~ has become almost routine every winter. The causes are well known: vehicular emissions, dust, construction debris, industrial fumes, and the seasonal stubble burning in neighbouring states. Yet, despite annual........

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