OPEN LETTER 1

 I knew a girl once, Nirbhaya,

She danced through life with rose coloured glasses,
A young soul- fearless- another name on your candles,
she wanted to be so much more.

I knew a girl once, Asifa,
who could’ve been another Malala or someone you couldn’t ignore,
You made the latter true but
was it worth by crushing an 8 year old’s soul?

I knew a girl once, Hetal,
her mother had gone to a temple.
Can prayers protect a daughter if you can’t trust a security guard to not break the locks?

I knew a girl once,
who wanted to make a name of her own, you attached a caste to her and came to her like hounds.
You tried to make her a 'Dalit' (as if it's wrong to be born one) and nothing more.

These are the strongest women I know.
They go beyond goddesses in my eyes, I don’t think that has become the case for you yet,

Otherwise how did YOU
Use your rotten hands to touch them and get away with it?
You, who aren’t a human, but could’ve had some humanity but no,
I know wild animals who have greater humans in them but no you don’t.

A 31 year old doctor [let’s remove all those tags]
A human being who was doing her job, that’s who you took away from this world.

There is no redemption for you here, neither in hell.
Because even the devil has more humanity than a coward who snatches away someone’s ‘dignity’.

Dignity is the wrong word though. You can’t take away something you have never seen in your own mirror.


-Saanvi Singh