Freedom-A Midnight's Illusion

By Nimain Charan Biswal

Independence is a bad money:

a mutilated currency;

a fake note in the name of

secularism

pluralism

and

a false promise of brotherhood; and

a blank promissory note

in the name of harmony, livelihood and rights.

Freedom is a curse:

a citadel of ego-clash

footed upon a sheet of chaos, violence and bloodshed

in the name of Gods, Godfather, marginalism,

minorism

and fear of displacement.

Hell with the day

hell with the Zero-hour of an ominous evening

our so-called leaders of the nation crowned themselves

as upholders of the religiously divided regions

unleashing untold agonies that stunned the sub-continent

Rape, abduction, mutilation filled the air!

trains piled with corpses along the borders

spared 2.5 million lives! and

at least 14 million rendered homeless

in a frenzy of hatred, violence and massacre.

It is no emancipation

but a midnight’s illusion of breaking free

from the imperial chains of decade-long Slavery:

a sheer proclamation that still kept us crippled;

divided ourselves blessing us with two indigenous Gods

at war with each other.

No promise

but an illusion-

a cheque dishonored

leaving millions in dark corridors

of lies, pretentions and power-struggle

behind the shield of secularism

By Nimain Charan Biswal