Archbishop Emeritus
Desmond Tutu
-Abdul Muqit Chowdhury
“Suu Kyi, we are born to love, without prejudice”
Great voice of sermon-an instance-setter.
The noble call for justice and peace
To stop genocide for enlightened future.
Echoed our pulse and bit of heart:
None with conscience can differ it.
Has called the ‘sister’ to play her part
Of ordained justice-lit, candle lit.
‘Decrepit and typically retired’ Father
‘But breaking vow to remain silent,’
‘Out of depth sadness about the plight’ there-to her
‘Of the Muslim minority’ facing extinction.
‘You are a beloved younger sister’
‘I had a photograph of you, dear’
‘To remind me of the injustice and sacrifice’
‘You endured out of your love and commitment
For the people- Myanmar.’
‘Some have called ethnic cleansing’
Alas! And others ‘a slow genocide’
‘Has persisted’ ‘accelerated’ people crushing
‘Pathos engulfs so the whole worldwide.’
‘None superior and none inferior’-beings human
‘May look and worship’ in ‘different’ ways.
And some may have greater fire power than
Others,’ but all are ‘members of one family,’ he says.
‘No natural differences’ at all to be fought
‘We are born to love, without prejudice’
Discrimination doesn’t come naturally, it is taught.
So, Truth should prevail, we hail a victory of peace.
And the final verdict of Archbishop Emeritus
‘If the political price of your ascension to the highest’ place
‘Is your silence, the price certainly too steep,’ thus
‘A country fails to protect,’ worth ‘not a free one’s grace.’
‘For a symbol of righteousness, to lead such a country’
‘It is ignominious,’ it is adding to our pain.
‘As we witness the unfolding horror,
We pray for you to be courageous and resilient again’
‘We pray for you to speak out of justice’
‘Human rights and the people’s unity’
‘We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crises’
‘Guide your people back toward the path of righteousness,’ amity.
Persons of conscience of human community
For brotherly treatment, will surely hail
This noble voice to garland, a world-heart personality
He invokes the ‘sister,’ O lady, never-country should not fail.
Note: I cannot forget ‘An open letter’-“Suu Kyi, we are born to love, without prejudice” by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, published in the Editorial page on 12 September 2017. This letter is a universal and time-conquering one echoing Divine Message. Let us hope for an enlightened future for those sections of humanity, who are facing ‘ethnic cleansing’ or ‘slow genocide’ marked in the letter of the Archbishop Emeritus.
Everlasting
-Sultana Firdousi
A bird from a tree
Let your dream be yours.
The keeper of your flowers
Rips the plants day and night,
While lurking here and there.
In the heart of the raw bamboo, sways a parrot.
While the cavalcade of evergreens rebel-
As rain trickles the moist earth.
And in this medley of emotions, the trees mould into birds.
Translation: Leuna Sarah
