GUJARAT BURNS

A child in bandages, on a hospital bed
Confusion in his pain-filled eyes
Wondering why?

A man weeping, hands folded
Begging for help
That never came

Mother and child burnt alive
While the umbilical cord
Still bound them together

A brave young girl
Trying to smile
Through hard-to-control tears

Homes burning in flames of hatred
Terror walking the streets
With home-made swords

And as Hindus and Muslims
Fight over a Temple and a Mosque
Humanity is maimed, humanity is murdered
Humanity will never walk this land again.

(The pictures above, which appeared in Times of India during the Gujarat riots of 2002, and an interview I saw of Dr Bandukwala and his daughter, were the 'inspiration' if you can call it that, for this poem. I strongly believe that violence and terrorism should be unequivocally condemned - whether it is Islamic terrorism or Hindu militancy. When I used to read about Hitler's pogrom against the Jews, I used wonder how could the world let this happen. It's a frightening thought that such things can happen again and again, only the perpetrators change, the victims change, the spectators change... I pray that there may be no more Gujarats, no more Bombay Blasts, no more WTC bombings)