The Mappila Verses 

My rating 5/5 stars

To be able to live without fear in a country, is something which comes naturally if one is a citizen. It is something which doesn't normally warrant second thoughts about one's identity in the land of one's birth. And it shouldn't. Least in case of democracies where people belonging to different religions/ castes/ communities are given equal rights for living by their respective constitutional frameworks. 

The citizens of a democracy, take this right for granted. But what when this right becomes a privilege. When there be people in such democracies who live in constant fear for their lives because of their religious or caste identities. When not only their voices are stifled but their very existence is negated and put on guillotine by the State. 

In times marked by the onslaught of fascist forces, dissent is the only way left to register resistance.

Ajmal Khan's poetry is poetry of resistance. Through these poems he questions the State, looks back at his roots in the country and questions whether the contribution of his forefathers in India's fight for independence is any less than that of others. He expresses his pain as well as fear for having to prove his citizenship for a country he was born in. Does his religion dilutes his love for his country? A country which he thinks of as motherland but the same country asks of him the questions which no mother can. I couldn't help crying while reading this. And think Ajmal should be read by more people.