It Does Matter!

Hadi Matar could have gone anywhere,
have done anything

What he fancied himself to be
Is anybody’s guess, but he had been
The perfect nightmare in a fancy-free
Morning, where the mother of
Midnight’s Children had been
A fancied presence!

A voice that had untiringly upheld
What he held close to his heart,
A dissident voice in this
Conformist world…

Hadi Mater, we are ashamed of you
I don’t know what your religion is,
Neither I want to know… .

• The link to the CNN story on attack on Rushdie:

Pranab Ghosh is an award-winning Indian journalist and writer, who has worked for major news outlets of the country, including HT Media Ltd., Eenadu Digital, TNIE, Business India group etc.. His books of poems have been published by English and Canadian publishers. Read other articles by Pranab.