Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, rebelling against the Karnataka government’s arrest of poet and journalist Siraj – who recited his poem titled Ninna Dakhale Yaavaga Needuttee? (When will you give your documents?) at a cultural festival held in Karnataka last month – read out the same poem on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly.
He also questioned the government on the arrests made in the Bidar-based school for a play on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.
He read out the poem penned by Siraj Bisaralli on Wednesday. The poem had landed the poet and journalist Siraj in trouble with the police recently and he was arrested on charges of provoking a breach of peace and causing public mischief. An FIR was registered at the Gangavathi Rural Police Station in Koppal district on January 24 against Siraj and Rajabaxi HV, a journalist who shared the poem online. Rajabaxi is the editor of Kannadanet.com.
However, the duo was later granted bail by a district court.
‘What is there in this (poem)? When poet Nissar Ahmed wrote Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu, who was he referring to? Politicians like us. Was he arrested?’ Kumaraswamy asked on the floor of the house questioning the police’s actions against the poet. ‘Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu (Sheep Sir Sheep)’ is a famous poem by KS Nissar Ahmed on herd mentality.
Then, the former chief minister went on to read out the text of the poem. The poem, written in Kannada, has since been translated into as many as 13 languages. Reciting the entire poem on the floor of the Assembly, Kumaraswamy sought to know what was wrong in that poem that the poet was booked and arrested.
A translation of the original Kannada poem reads as follows,
Amidst the queue for Aadhaar and ration,
Monkeying about for thumbprints and servers,
The people are losing their lives to documents
Where are your documents, you who demands it?
You (referring to ruling govt) who are rejecting those who sacrificed their lives happily for freedom,
One who is tearing at the pages of history,
When will you show your documents?
You who is asking documents from Taj Mahal, Charminar,
And the red stoned Qutub Minar, where are your documents?
Licking the boots of the British,
Drinking blood in the name of religious hatred,
You who believes in Goebbels’ ideology,
Where are your documents?
Those selling pakodas,
Those selling tea in my town,
Have not lost their sense of humanity,
They have not lost their self-respect,
They haven’t spun stories of lies,
Tell me, when will you give your documents?
