1984's Answer To You O India

[wjkk wjkf]

I don't know whether this had been posted before..I thought it was wonderful

Pre - 1984

I was merely a little girl then,

I lived far away from Punjab

I read the biased news about my people in your papers

I grew up believing we were wrong.

In your textbooks O' India

Sikhi was an off stream of your Noble Heritage

Gone astray by militant philosophy of the tenth Guru

And in present times it did not make sense.

We grew up being ridiculed

By teachers, playmates and streetgoers

Everyday fighting prejudice

And being ashamed of our own selves.

My parents were busy making ends meet

They were the children of the 1947 displacement

They had no time for sharing Sikh life and pride

They lost it somewhere with all the socio-economic strife.

So I grew up confused without an identity

With you telling how you did a favor on us refugees

I did not know about Sikh history and heritage

And its contribution to your freedom, power and existence.

But, we had a Sufi worker at our business

He was so spiritual and had a sense of wisdom

I always found him longing to touch the feet of Guru's Sikhs

He always told me that Gur-Sikhi Jeevan commanded utmost reverence.

His words ignited a spark in my soul somewhere

The truth had to be found

My parents had given me wings

It was time to dig the roots in the ground.

Then came 1984

The news about several innocents being killed

In busses and trains of Punjab

Why did I know were setups and propaganda,

To create a context for BlueStar.

When you stormed Harimander

Hot month of June it was

Sangat[5] in tens of thousands had come to pay reverence

To the great Guru Arjan Shaheeda-de-Sirtaaj.

In pretext to disarm a few dozen men

You brought tanks, rocket launchers, heavy artillery and cannons

You entrapped thousands and cut off their supplies

And used poisonous gas to consume those innocents.

You killed uncountable mothers, fathers and children

After you parched them with thirst,

You filled the sarovar with the blood of thousands

And tried to patch up your acts by mass cremations.

When Lion Bhindrawale was declared found

With hundreds of Gursikhs around

Something had ached my heart

For you it was the beginning of the end; for me it was just a start.

Then came fake encounters

I suspected things were not how they were shown

But just a teenager I was

With no access to the truth or cries

of bereaving mothers in Punjab.

But You know what O' cruel Brahmanvaad?

The ties of Guru's Kaum are very strong

Generations aways form Guru's land

But my blood and soul was always a Punjab.

Then 30th of October came

Satwant & Beant had done their share.

You decided to teach 18 million of us another lesson

And issued the orders of Sikh massacre.

Our house was set afire and a few relatives blazed,

Rape, torture and death we had barely escaped.

With days of hiding, uncertainty and gloom ahead

The spirit was still Guru's; it couldn't be scared.

When the sad news poured in from all directions,

O' India you had opened our eyes to the Sikhi connection.

We were connected, we were made one;

Punjab or outside any place in the world.

That awakening had finally taken place

That feeling was invaluable, that discovery priceless.

As you unveiled your centuries' long hatred

And unleashed your long held wrath!

It was a blessing in disguise, I'll tell you

And finally everything had made sense.

It was our identity you loathed

It was our sovereignty and strength that you despised

It was our magnanimousness that you thrived on

It was our subjugated loyalty that you desired.

When those fearless souls revealed the truth

And masses pledged to stand up for their nation

You feared losing your strength and position

And planned this brutal retaliation.

The spark had turned into a flame

To be a Sikh was no longer a shame

I knew we were not one of you

And standing up for equality, liberty and justice would never please you.

You finally dug your own grave

Your cover-ups and false promises will bear no fruits

My parents had given me the wings

But Thank You India; You put me in touch with my roots.

June, 2006

I am a parent of a pre-teen now

And the flame is a full grown fire

That fire; it also burns in his heart

And that to you is the start of my 1984's answer.

The fire now burns with full vigor

It will consume me lest I take an action

Hence I will not sit quiet

I pledge to turn it into a revolution.

I brought him up telling stories about his heritage

About your betrayal, your intentions and your treacheries

I am not alone; thousands of Mothers there are

That dedicated their lives to this purpose.

I will not let him down; in grounding him to his roots.

Not one day has passed since he was born

That I didn't tell him a story of Sikh pride

Of Khalsa Nation and its sacrifice.

This is my revenge O' India

I will never forget and forgive you

I will raise many such more daughters and sons

They will never let your cruel intentions come true.

They will walk tall; They will be in your face

Proving we survived against all odds

They will not demolish themselves ashamed by your lies

But will stand eternally in Guru's grace.

We will be a strong Nation, We will be sovereign

You cannot stop us, The game has just begin.

For you see,

We are the people of our own destiny, of spirit and of freedom

We have wings we roam everywhere,

But,

We also have roots in truth and perfection.

We have roots only in truth and perfection.

Poem by Bibi Gurmeet Kaur, Atlanta

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