Today every pore of my body
is screaming
For you, Irom,
Screams so long suppressed…
Anger spilled out in my protests
As I clamoured for your
release at VT station,
My being shaken to the
core,
To tell people about you,
what you stand for.
Telling people about the AFSPA, the draconian law,
I felt lighter somehow.
Over the past few days I
have watched the country screaming
And the love being showered
on Anna Hazare,
I have heard voices raised
against corruption
From every corner of the
country
And I am happy
Yet my heart, it weeps
aloud.
My brain rejoices at this new revolution
But my heart is not with
me.
My heart is with you, Irom,
It weeps for you.
It is unable to understand the sentiments of this country.
It is a heart, after all.
You have been on hunger
strike for more than ten years
When not a single Indian
was with you.
You stand against a black
law, the AFSPA,
But no one owned you.
Do not tell anyone, Irom,
This is a riddle
Whose answer changes with
different people.
If we are with Anna Hazare,
We are true patriots.
If we are with Anna Hazare,
We are with the common
people.
When we are with you,
We are traitors.
When we are with you,
We are against our army and
our soldiers.
We are against the national security.
Corruption is wrong,
As our textbooks tell us
from the time we are children.
But, Irom, patriotism
Only teaches us to defend
our country.
Nation, army, police – are now an inseparable part of patriotism.
They have become the enemy
in our fight for freedom.
Corruption involves scams
worth lakhs and crores.
But thanks to the AFSPA, thanks to this patriotism,
Lakhs and crores of Indians
have been forced into the sleep of death,
And with them, their
families too have perished
Even as we label them as
terrorists
While we sleep soundly in
our bed of patriotism.
We are unable, Irom, to see
through this veil of patriotism
To the barbarity of the
government.
When will my countrymen
awaken to the fact that
We are humans first, and
Indians later?
When, Irom, when
Will lakhs of people join
you in your hunger strike?
When, Irom, when
Will our people shed the
mask of patriotism?
Anna Hazare, you have won.
You fasted for 85 hours and now
The Lokpal Bill will be
implemented.
Irom Sharmila has been
fasting for over a decade
But the AFSPA is still to
be repealed.
Anna, will you sit with Irom?
Will you be able to stop the bloodshed inflicted
In the name of the law?
