OH ! IDP ! IDP !
|
Randhir Thiyam
Who are we?
The "refugees" in our own homeland,
The "unwanted guests",
What is our crime?
Breathing in the wrong postcode.
Who made us?
War—your beloved factory,
where leaders mint victims like fresh coins.
Where is our home?
Behind barbed wires,
under tarpaulin roofs—
“temporary” since forever,
Beyond the "buffer zone".
Work orders in our name—
crores in your pockets.
You call it relief.
We call it daylight robbery in God’s name.
We are the IDPs—
Internally Displaced People,
Externally Exploited Profits.
War created us,
your peace-process prolongs us,
suicides record our obituary.
For us—life is a draft,
death is the only clearance certificate.
Oh, IDP ! IDP !
not just a name,
but the perfect business model
for a democracy that eats its own children.
Who are we?
The "refugees" in our own homeland,
The "unwanted guests",
What is our crime?
Breathing in the wrong postcode.
Who made us?
War—your beloved factory,
where leaders mint victims like fresh coins.
Where is our home?
Behind barbed wires,
under tarpaulin roofs—
“temporary” since forever,
Beyond the "buffer zone".
Work orders in our name—
crores in your pockets.
You call it relief.
We call it daylight robbery in God’s name.
We are the IDPs—
Internally Displaced People,
Externally Exploited Profits.
War created us,
your peace-process prolongs us,
suicides record our obituary.
For us—life is a draft,
death is the only clearance certificate.
Oh, IDP ! IDP !
not just a name,
but the perfect business model
for a democracy that eats its own children.