Shaheen Bagh Protests: Pros And Cons Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

They staged it beautifully just like the theatre personae
The common people of common things commonly
Of the street theatres, nukkad sabhas
Or the people doing panchayiti
As spokespersons, protagonists, mouthpieces
Of protests and movements, peace movements
But over continued, overdid they in acting,
Protesting and staging of the drama
Showing the facades of liberty and people's charters,
Constitutionalism and constitution-making
But got they trapped in party and politics,
Political ideologies and fascinations,
Rather than lingering they must have come to
The compromising table for a negotiation,
Rather than politicizing it they must have concluded
But got mired into controversies and political propaganda
And vote-bank politics with the razor's edge,
Clawing at nationalism and national sentiments,
Making a mockery of ti all, playing with
Which must have ended early to dispense with.

Try to understand the feelings of the people,
Reading the sentiments rather than playing with
As the parties do it here,
Sometimes inflammatory speeches must be checked
Rather than giving a spark to it,
See the graffito, the mural, they drama
How they are staging and enacting,
Go not by political propaganda and anti-India stir
Showing religious allegiance,
Leftism is but leftist hegemony and hierarchy not at all,
Leftist pseudo-intellectualism, supermanship, bossism,
Nukkad sabha is definitely good,
But there must have been some as to go in-between,
Work as interlocutors, pacifists
Rather than provoking with anti-India slogans,
Azadi, azadi chahiye, love for Pakistan
And fanatics and nationalists taking the centrestage
Showing the strength of power.