Following is a translation of a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi: "Ae Sharif Insaanoen"
I find the poem to be deeply relevant to our times. Just when the majority of us are blaming the minority among us for criminal acts of terror caused by the militarists and suddenly believing in the words of "our" national politicians to caste doubts upon innocent people of another country, at a time when we Indians have become mute witnesses to cultural bans on Pakistan and artists from Pakistan even as racist communal elements in Bollywood such as Aadesh Srivastava or Abhijeet are gaining grounds, at a time when artists such as respected Ghulam Ali are being banned from entering the land of a country - India- whose people love him immensely, simply because suddenly some communal Hindu supremacist leaders are opposing any possible cultural exchanges with our neighboring nation, at a time when we are allowing a bunch of proven thugs - the politicians who we all know to be corrupt to the core every passing day, the politicians who have legitimized criminalization of politics in the land of the Buddha - are demanding across party lines to come up with draconic laws to silence resenting voices in India, at a time when ATS officer Karkare who was instrumental in uncovering the ugly masks of the terror from Hindu fundamentalists has been killed and has been converted into a hero by the very people he despised, such is a time to question our conventional wisdom.
By Saswat Pattanayak
Shed our blood, or theirs
Lives lost are of human race
War on the East or against the West
Casualty is troubled peace
Bomb our land, or across the borders
Afflicted are souls under construction
Homeless our people, or theirs
Suppressed is oppressed expression
Tanks march across or in our lands
Leave Mother Earth barren stretch
Victory cry or vanquished sighs
Countless lives mourn the death
War itself the biggest crisis
What problem can it ever solve?
Seeds of hatred it perpetuates
What necessities will it absolve?
Hence, fellow decent humans,
Better if we avert these wars
Ours and theirs – in all the lands
Better if candle of peace sparks
To prove our point of advancements
Do we need to flow their bloods?
To rid our houses of darkness
Do we need to set theirs on flames?
Wars we must differently showcase
Battlefield’s not the sole option
Humans also exhibit intelligence
Fanaticism not the only emotion
Come, in this age of bitter darkness
Let us spark some lights of care
Those steps that foster peace and progress
Let us consider some new thoughts to share
War, results of heartless barbarism
Peace, results of civilized progress
War, proud catch of power structure
Peace, humble heritage of humaneness
War, in the name of enslaved people
Peace, to promote socially just system
War, voiced by misguided zealots
Peace, for hapless masses supreme
War, a shameful occupation of few
Peace, for equity, prosperity for all
Fight the war, and the war-mongers
For peace, progressives everywhere
(Trans. by Saswat Pattanayak, Peoples' Poet, 2008)