WUNRN
PEACE SISTERS
By Mallika Sengupta
Dedicated to Kamla Bhasin, Syeda Hameed, and Mohini Giri
And to Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia/WIPSA and WIPSA’s
South Asian Women’s Journey for Friendship & Peace - 2003
We have come in search of peace
On behalf of each and every woman
From Kashmir to Kanyakumari
Rejoicing our plurality
In bindi, kajal and burqa
In Quran, Gita an Granth sahib
In Karl Marx and Kate Millet
In tradition and protest
In agreement and disagreement
We have come.
We have come to speak for freedom
On behalf of Saifunesa
The ten year old girl of a border village
Whose goat has crossed the no man’s land
And who is arrested by the force
For seven hellish days.
We have come to speak for open borders
On behalf of two hundred and thirteen
Gypsies-men, women and children
Who ‘vanished into the blue’
After a seven day tug of war
Between the two neighboring countries.
We have come to speak for love
On behalf of Muskan and Parvez
Two pardesi lovers
Separated by their country men
But for whom, even
One second of separation is intolerable.
We have come
On behalf of land, water, and sky
We have come
On behalf of poems, music and dance
We have come
On behalf of tears, smiles and kisses
We have come
On behalf of men, women and children
We have come
To speak for love, peace and friendship.
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