"No, this money is not going to the Maoists who behead cops!"
(You think Maoists will befriend Maggi-loving urbanites like me so easily?)
"No, this money is not part of any spam scam!"
(You think I am unaware of scams? I am taking the money myself to Chhattisgarh)
"No, the tribals won't move out of their lands unless they are adequately compensated!"
(Would you abandon your settled life for a meagre Rs 1 lakh?)
"No, Operation Green Hunt is not a figment of imagination!"
(While the Home Minister denies the existence of any such activity, Chhattisgarh DIG admits to its existence.)
"No, the tribals do not blow up schools!"
(The tribals have not been even allowed to purchase their daily items from their local 'haats'; schools are a distant dream)
"No, your Christmas party will not be sabotaged if you give me 100 bucks!"
(Only children of a rich God celebrate Christmas; others have no God even for a false solace)
"No, I don't believe you cannot afford 100 bucks if you can read this on your computer!"
(Isn't it time to stop circulating forward mails on friendship and brotherhood, when ignorance is the policy conveniently adopted at times of real need?)
"No I'm not a Marxist, Communist, Maoist, Leninist, Stalinist, Trotskyist!"
(Do we really need to get into ideology when the country is witnessing old women and toddlers being butchered for no fault?)
"No, you cannot silence me if I want to speak of justice!"
(I have been born with a strong vocal chord; slit my throat if you think I cry to get back my own rights)
"No, tribals are not dirty filthy rats!"
(Where is the humanity that was taught in school, that all human beings are equal?)
Karamoja district, Uganda, April 1980: As the region having the driest climate in Uganda, a famine in 1980 killed 21 per cent of the country's population and 60 per cent of its infants. Famine, drought and ethnic violence continue to this day in Karamoja.
Do these lines convey any bit of anger? Well, these have been some my responses to people who have been reading my fundraiser mail for the satyagrah and jan sunwai in Chhattisgarh, and who are baffled to hear all that is going on in that rogue state.
Those who have declined to hear me out, or declined to read up alternative media to get a better understanding, or declined to help simply because fundraisers are an alternative money-minting machine, I ask you:
Do we as human beings really need to get into politics to "feel" the pain of another who is going through hell?
Do we as human beings really need to be satisfied with half-baked information fed to us by news channels?
Do we as human beings really need to wade through our lives half-asleep?
Do we as human beings really need to disregard another of our kind, simply because you and I are more educated?
Do we as human beings really need to shed tears only when terrorists get into a Taj Hotel and pump down bullets on the upper class?
Do we as human beings really need to waste Rs 10 on candles at Gateway of India?
Do we as human beings really need to be so lackadaisical about every aspect of our heart?
Do we as human beings really need to care only when our profits are at stake?
Do we as human beings really need to stop feeling altogether?
Do we as human beings really need to give up on the human race?
"Without justice, there is no scope for peace." - Vinoba Bhave
Think about it.
Give me a strong argument to convince me that I am wrong.
If your heart is calm with your own arguments, perhaps then I will be silenced.
