A poem on why we must insist on saying unspeakable things.
When right wing thugs
attack members of a religious
minority in broad daylight
in a nation’s capital
while the police look on
or join in the attacks,
that is not a ‘riot’,
that is a pogrom.
And when armed men in uniform
force their way into homes,
break furniture and take
jewellery and cash,
that is not ‘quelling a riot’,
that is loot and pillage.
And when students of a madrasa
in UP, or any other place,
emerge from jail with bruises
and rectal bleeding,
that is not ‘detention’
that is torture and rape.
And when offices of the law
take young men accused
of a crime to an empty field
(on a hillside or under a flyover),
and then turn them loose
and shoot them dead as they run,
that is murder.
And when any government
anywhere in the world,
at any time in history,
accepts, justifies or orders
these and many other crimes,
that is not a ‘democracy’,
that is tyranny.
And when any of us agree
to use words that mask
the truth of these
unspeakable things,
we are not using
‘measured language’
we are telling lies.
Hamraaz is a poet who whispers poems about the dark times. You can find him on Instagram @hamraazraaz1950.
Featured image credit: Hasan Almasi/Unsplash