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Head sunk in shame, I sit here.

I sit here
head sunk in shame
in the
knowing
that my
Hindu soul
stands a silent witness
In the murder
of a muslim brother.

You say
he was a
terrorist
one that deserves
to die
So I should
celebrate
so you don't
count me as a
traitor to
my Hindu state of
birth.

I sit here
unable to
argue
unable to have
a conversation
with you
Because I too
am the majority
that takes for
granted
my body
my privilege
my identity
Like you,
I am
complicit in
murder.

I sit here
and write a
poem
in my pain
as I witness
a muslim brother
led to the
gallows.
Without evidence
Without due process
With questions
left unanswered.
I sit here
because I know
that's what happens
when you are
muslim in Hindu India.

I sit here
and hold my
child
in pain
As I know
somewhere in
Kashmir
A child,
the child of
a terrorist
has no
father to
hug him
and to protect.
A child
left by his
father
to be cared for
by God.

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