Venecia Sangma
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am submitting my poem under the above mentioned subject. I hope it meets the requirements.
Murder Of Innocence
She was a mother and a wife,
Trying to keep her family alive.
A daily wage is all she earns,
A meal is what she ever cares in turns.
Yet they came and shot her,
Put a hole in her head.
Horror was what her children witnessed,
Their innocent killed in seeing a murder,
None, but that of their mother;
Just because she was mistaken to be a spy.
Yet there was no remorse or pity,
Of love, there were none.
Theirs were the hearts of hatred,
Of murder and the thirst for blood.
A day in a sleepy town,
They changed it into a horror and a frown,
That of ignoring the sound of a gunfight,
As nothing but an event of a day.
Theirs were of one mind and thought,
The greed for money and power soar
And humanity lost its meaning;
For them, only the terror reigns.
What wrong did the children commit,
To witness the murder of their mother?
What wrong did the people commit,
To host the world full of terror?
Where is the love the world was made with?
Where is the peace that was promised?
They are all deep within us,
To be shared and rid the world of terror.
_______________________
North Eastern region of India is known for its millitary insurgency and Garo Hills in the state of Meghalaya is no exception. The situation has cooled down a bit now with lots of milltants surrendering, but there were times when all we hear was the news of kidnapping and murder. There was a hardcore group which is still somewhat active. There were times when they were killing just anybody on the mere suspiscion of being a police informant. Same thing happened to the lady in the poem. Another mentionable fact is that, i worked in the area where their presence was well known and where a gunfight across the river beside the town was taken as an ordinary happening in a day. I worked there for 5 and a half years and I saw the changes it made in people's lives. At first, a sound of one shot of a bullet would make the people cringe and run for their lives even though the sound was heard from across the river and some 3 or 4 km away. But, gradually, the reactions changed. The terror became part of people's lives. That was so ironic. I am glad that things are looking more positive now as millitants are surrendering and started living their ordinary lives.
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Venecia N Sangma, India
— I am from the North East Region of India. I was born on 4th April, 1979 at a small town called Tura in the state Meghalaya (the wettest place in the world!). My people belong to the Tibeto-Burmese race; we called ourselves A'chik, meaning 'Hill Man', but are known as Garo to the world. I am a post graduate in English literature from North Eastern Hill University [NEHU], with a passion for writing, which I really love. My two other passions are photography and travelling: all three, being part of my job, are helping me very much. Presently, I am working in a people oriented Organization called Meghalaya Basin Development Authority [MBDA], which is a semi-government set up to give livelihood opportunities for rural people. One of our partners is International Fund for Agricultural Development, working for the upliftment of rural lives. At present, I am posted at a place called Ampati in South West Garo Hills District, which is mixed cultural and linguistic domain.
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