From this exploitation
Tag: religion
Education
From this exploitation
For a Heaven Peddled
For a God unseen
We sacrifice
Those who need ours
We leave them
To mercy of God
Indoctrained from childhood
We offer prayers
And fill the coffers
Of those
Whose business is
The soul of mortals
Who amongst us
Has seen afterlife
For a heaven peddled
We mortgage our present
And create hell
On earth
While the custodians
Of morality
Turn a blind eye
As the powerfuls
Bend the rules
They have sold
Their souls
And tangoed with
The devil
Offering balms
To our tortured souls
If politics makes
Strange bedfellows
Religion is not
Far behind
Divergent Thoughts: Set of Haikus
In the name of God
Millions tortured, maimed and killed
Still preach the gospel
The prophet of peace
Followers kill in his name
Mute spectators all
Tower of Babel
Merciful God’s punishment
Cursed diversity
Children of the book
Monotheistic all but
Which one is greatest
We want lasting peace
But peace on our own terms though
While the world suffers
Lie, cheat, commit sin
As long you serve our purpose
Get a mulligan
We worship same god
Speak different languages
Different, we fight
We speak same language
But worship different god
Different, we fight
Worship same, speak same
Different color of skin
Different, we fight
What is different
Language, color, religion
Same blood flows in vein
Peace Has Vanished ( a Ghazal)
I had written this poem ( Ghazal ) a few weeks back in my mother tongue, Assamese, regarding the unrest going on in many parts of the world. I gave a finishing touch today and translated it to English. This is not a literal translation. It is difficult to do a word by word translation and retain the ghazal format. I am including both Assamese ( first) and the English version here.
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অশান্তি কিয়
সকলোতে আজি শুনো হাঁহাকাৰ, পৃথিৱীত ইমান অশান্তি কিয়
প্ৰাচুৰ্য্যৰ মাজত শুনো আৰ্তনাদ, ৰাইজৰ মনত অশান্তি কিয়
বিজ্ঞানৰ আজি জয় জয়াকাৰ, পৰাক্ৰমীৰ শুনো উন্মাদ হুঙ্কাৰ
নৈতিকতাৰ পতন দেখি নিতেনিত, ৰাইজৰ নহব অশান্তি কিয়
চাৰিওদিশে দেখোঁ বাজে ৰণডংকা, জনতাৰ মনত কিহৰ আশঙ্কা
অজান আতংকবাদীৰ মোক্ষম আঘাট, বুজিছানে আজি অশান্তি কিয়
অন্তৰত জ্বলে দুঃখৰ অনল, চৌদিশে দেখোঁ জ্বলে দাবানল
সৰ্বহাৰাৰ বিচাৰ নহল উচিত, নহলেনো আজি অশান্তি কিয়
বৃথা প্ৰলোভনত মতলীয়া ৰাইজ, বৈষম্যৰ জয়ধ্বনিত সদা ব্যস্ত
ধৰ্মান্ধতাৰ উন্মাদনাত বিবেক নষ্ট, পৃথিৱীত নহব অশান্তি কিয়
Peace Has Vanished
Lament everywhere ring out loud and clear, where peace has vanished
Amidst all the unfathomable wealth, people query why peace has vanished
Scientific truth questioned and throttled by maniac utterances of the powerful
Values challenged, morality in perpetual comma, people’s peace has vanished
Constant cacophony of drums of war, scared dejected populace milling around
Unknown terrorists’ deadly strikes, death and mutilation, our peace has vanished
Aching hearts, smoldering pain, world engulfed by raging fires of destruction
Blind justice disenfranchises destitute, division rules, why question peace has vanished
False prophets of power, deluded blind followers, fomenting and heralding division
Fanatics, corrupted and hijacked by religion, search where peace has vanished
Crutch
Needed someone to blame
For all our faults
So we created god
To hide our weaknesses
Needed a crutch
We discovered religion
Folks needed to be kept in line
For elites to enjoy privileges
So propagated faith
We needed to spread our powers
We seeded division
Nationality, race, gender and color
We love the rainbow after the rain
But abhor diversity
We want our own
Needed people to believe in rewards
Created illusion called heaven
And destroyed our only home
Hobbled, disabled and crippled
We march along
Applying fictitious balms
To soothe our aching hearts
We destroy our today
For a mirage of heavenly adobe
In our afterlife
That is completely unknown
Tower of Babel lives on
But language of love still the same
Color of skin may be different
Same red color blood flows in our veins
Earth did not create any boundaries
Though we try to wall ourselves in
We do not need any crutches
To prop ourselves up
All we need is love and compassion
For our fellow human beings
Weapons:Week Forty Six of My Fifty Two Weeks Journey with the Letter ” W”
Those who defends the freedom of possessing guns are fond of reminding people that guns don’t kill people, people do. Really? From mythological time to present, it is weapons that has been killing people. In modern times, weapons are big business. States are major players in selling arms and weapons. Everywhere around the globe we can see the devastation and mayhems that’s been created by weapons. Stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction can wipe civilization as we know of few times over. Just imagine if all the resources that are being spent on weapons would have been utilized on development programs, this world of ours would have been a paradise. But because of proliferation of weapons, all around the globe we have warlike situations prevailing.
All throughout recorded history, wars fought in the name of religion resulted in deaths to millions. Followers of religions that preach peace and love did not and do not hesitate to kill non believers in the name of religion. If there would have been no weapons, we would not have seen such devastation. All God’s creation have been given inherent weapons to defend and feed themselves but no weapons to kill unnecessarily. We humans call ourselves to be God’s best creation. God has not given us weapons to kill others. Alas, we are given a brain that we misused to invent weapons to kill and dominate others. If we really would have utilized our brains properly, we would have invented weapons to spread love and peace, not death and destruction.
It may be a wishful thinking, but we can always hope. Maybe one day we will see the light and will find mythological arrows of Cupid to spread universal love. With that hope in mind, on week forty six of my fifty two weeks journey with the letter “W”, I start my poem with the word “Weapons”.
Peace and love to all my dear readers in this season of joy.
This post is in response to Write Anything Wednesday-Dec-14-2016 sponsored by Writerish Ramblings