Voices From The Valley

H Ranjita *

Do you hear the voices?
The voices from the valley?
They're not the sweet songs
Of the nightingale nor the cuckoo.
Nor are they like the captivating song
Of the solitary reaper
That pleased the passers-by.
But the voices are-
The loud cry of the mother
Whose young son is being snatched
Away from her bosom
Only to be shot dead
And the body lies there on the dust
Like a dead bird, motionless;
The helpless cry of the young widows
Whose husbands had been shot dead
In front of them at their own homes;
The cry of pain of the wounded civilians
Lying in the pool of blood
In the broad daylight, the victims
Of the two powerful forces;
The slogans against the rapists,
The protest against corruption,
Against the policies and politics,
Against the 'Opium War'
That snuffs out our youth, our future;
Against the deadly disease
That spreads pandemic;
The cries of common men and women,
The voices from the Valley and Hills.
Stop for a while and listen to them.
They pray for peace,love and life,
Standing at the gun-point
In between two forces.
They don't care who's right
Or who's on the wrong side.
All they wish is to let them live
A normal life, just a normal life.
Is it asking for more than they deserve?