Many Faces of the Fury

by Fayezah Iqbal

It feels disrupted,
It feels stagnated.
To make their point masses have stranded,
The life that was while away taken for granted.
As activism pledges to achieve the demanded,
And exert against evil and unwanted,
Intrepid Nirbhaya, Gauri and disillusioned Vemula wait yet brave-hearted.
While as emboldened are fringe and conflict-bent and as much undaunted;
As unrelenting Karni Sena, Jats, Marathas wreck lives unwarranted.

Slogans are raised all aloud,
Voicing often against the inept system and complicit crowd,
Either to avenge, Chimma, Akhlaq or Kalburgi from the threats avowed,
Or to observe, lynchings of Pehlu or Junaid are Not in My Name ever allowed.
But stronger is the clamour to defend billowed esteem and honourable shroud,
So that ignorance, superior creed grow and vain glory rebounds.
No matter, life is set ablaze, savagery let loose, or neither are children sound.

The shrieking silence and tormented inactivity bear testimony,
To the unaddressed raging agony,
Against corruption, farmer suicides, unemployment, injustice and many.
Not to forget reservations for Ram Rahim, and journey from Koregaon to Rani Padmini.

Ways are numerous to exude the fury,
Fiery discourses, torchlight processions complemented by glaring posters posing furious.
Or starve to death advances, and just the sternly expectant eyes,
assembled for that one affirmative to break the ice.
Contrasted with ghastly destruction, riotous havoc at an all time rise,
To confirm the masses to the narrative of past valour, supremacy and pride,
And no more does the sanctioned anarchy and eeriei mpunity surprise.
Is it the only way?
To render justice to the delayed, wronged and denied,
And achieve the rightful side?
As one puts one’s chore to an indefinite halt,
And anxiously await authority to surrender faultlessly to its faults.
To tame the sensitised foolhardy, and reckless guardians of society around;
One fancies in awe and hope, as revolution and reform gain ground,
While vandalism instils fear and contempt abound,

And often succumbs the State in inevitable compliance,
To the cries of the classes and, of course, to win back their reliance.
Sometimes, are offered uneasy compensations,
Sulking the fatigued masses in utter frustration.

Some feel contented for democracy asserted through outrage,
Some lament deeply for the liberty squandered out of rage.
And the questions remain unanswered
.......Are all the furious faces as upright?
.......Are all the chaotic phases as justified?
Who accounts for the lives and peace destroyed?
Who pays the price of injustice and who goes untried?

[We see a lot of protests, and clashes erupting often, for numerous reasons, be it Vemula’s suicide, beef lynchings and sometimes for issues as the movie Padmavat or to thwart the celebrations of Battle of Koregaon.The poem draws a sharp contrast between these different faces of fury that our country has seen lately, and analyses the reasons and means of expressing the various forms of fury.]

Fayezah Iqbal did her Masters in Spanish from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Writing being her passion, she has been writing for various blogs since the last three years.