[The first song was written in response to the lynching of Junaid, a 16-year-old Muslim boy, in the last week of June while the second song had been written a little earlier in connection with a similar incidents. Both of them were carried out by Hindutva fundamentalists who are on the rise under the auspices of the Modi government]
Nabina Das is the author of four books – a short story collection, The House of Twining Roses: Stories of the Mapped and the Unmapped; a novel, Footprints in the Bajra; and two poetry collections, Blue Vessel, and Into the Migrant City. She co-edited 40 under 40: an anthology of Post-Globalization Poetry with Semeen Ali. She teaches creative writing in universities and workshops.in my name - a protest songit is in my name
a name you use to kill
it is in my name
a name you use to lynch
it is in my name
you let Junaid bleed
it is in my name
you missed Rohith's stardust
it is in my name
you blinded kids in Kashmir
it is in my name
your boots trample Northeast
it is in my name
a name that flaunts Manusamhita
it is in my name
a name you flag to threaten
it is in my name
a name you use for religion
it is in my name
a name you hurl at Dalits
it is in my name
a name that hurts Muslims
it is in my name
a name that oppresses women
it is in my name
a name that mouths false scriptures
it is in my name
you call yourself a patriot
it is in my name
you brand yourself a rebel
it is always in my name
that you lay claim to my country and peace
so it is in my name today
we'll let the story be retold(First published in Cafe Dissensus web journal)Justice SongThe hanging comes to town
Did you hear?
The hanging comes to town
Did you know we'll eat sweets after the hanging?
Did you know we may celebrate with a cake?
Do you know --
The dead man came to town decades ago
Did you know?
The dead man came on a bullock cart then
The hang man comes in a sedan now
Do you know how many of them?
Did you know you'll win gold if you touch
the dead man's feet?
Do you know the gold will weigh in bars?
So many dead
So much gold
Did you know the hanged man's feet will turn a root?
Do you know how those roots are snaking inside us?
You must chew the root
You must touch the feet
And see the gold bars sit on your chest
They'll be heavy, they'll choke
And your dreams will get hanged
Did you know they will?
And still you must scream -- die die die.(A version of this poem is first published in South Asian Ensemble magazine)
