Kashmiri poet Rafiq Kathwari found Mir Laieeq’s anthemic expression of the meaning of azadi as inspiring as I do & wrote this poem, saying “The write up…wanted to be a poem. Appending, with apologies to Mir Laieeq for liberties taken.” I am honored to post it:
“Non-Lethal Pellet Guns
Yes, there are sorrows more lethal
than blindness but India knows
we can see, so can the world
community despite the fiscal
allure of shining New Delhi.
Despite its Hindu war on Kashmir,
India has failed to make bigotry
a central burden of our freedom
struggle. We haven’t turned into fiends,
have kept our dignity intact, our
compass points not towards Mecca
but human fraternity, a mirror
of who we are, what we aspire to be.”
—Mir Laieeq