Daya Pawar, Sambhaji Bhagat এবং Anand Patwardhan -ত্রয়ের লেখা ''We Are Not Your Monkeys '' কবিতাটি আমকে আলোড়িত করেছে।কোন ব্লগার কবি অনুবাদ করে দিলে কৃতজ্ঞ থাকবো। ''We Are Not Your Monkeys '' The rulers who controlled all knowledge And claimed the Ramayana to be India’s history Called us many names: “Demons”, “Low castes”, “Untouchables” But we were the aborigines of this land Listen to our story Today we call ourselves Dalits – the oppressed Once the Aryans on their horses invaded this land And we who were the natives became the displaced O Rama, O Rama ! You became the gods and we the demons You portrayed our Hanuman as a monkey O Rama, you representative of Aryans You enslaved us to form a monkey army Those you could not subjugate you deemed as Rakshasas – demons But we were the Rakshaks – Protectors of the forest To keep your racial purity you invented the hierarchy of caste Through your “Laws of Manu” * you trampled on the rights of women You made your wife Sita undergo An ordeal by fire to prove her chastity Such was your male law O Rama ! When Shambuka the “untouchable” Tried to gain knowledge You beheaded him O Rama ! Thus did you crush those that tried To rise above their caste Days passed Years and aeons went by But our lives remained the same We skin your cattle So can wear shoes We clean your gutters So you can stay clean Do you ask then O Rama What our caste is ? What our religion is ? Independence dawned and with it began the rule of the Constitution The author of the Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Himself born an “untouchable” framed the Constitution around secular ideals The castle of caste privilege Began to crumble No longer could the elite Skim the milk of religious exploitation But poverty grew And to divert the attention of the poor A new enemy was found Muslims were targeted And “taught a lesson” To destroy Lanka, O Rama You formed us into a monkey army And today you want us The working majority To form a new monkey army And attack Muslims But be warned Be warned you purveyors Of self-serving religion We will be your monkeys no more We will sing songs of humanity And we will make you human as well We will make you human.