I am silent…

Not because I am a Hindu and you were a Muslim.
Not because I am afraid I’ll be labelled a terrorist if I speak for you.
Not because you are not related to me by blood,
Or because I don't feel your loss deep in my heart.

I am silent…
Because my words have lost their power,
And my tears, their meaning…
In a country where dark corners only know how to violate a woman's body,
A country that has surrendered its senses to religion—
Unable to see the tenderness of a child,
Where the shrine of a temple became the abattoir of an innocent life.

A country that mourns every rape death,
Yet closes its conscience to humanity.
A country that sold its soul to drama,
And forgot all its virtues,
Where religious vandalism is a holy act.

I am silent
Because I live in a country of morons,
Who justify criminal acts with religious texts
That have long lost their glory.

I am silent
Because my country is deaf,
And my screams of agony and pain
Are seen as nothing more than a funny act of feminism.

Yes, we are different.
You lost your life—
And I lost my soul to it.

But yes… I too am an abettor!!