I am a Muslim and I know not
Where to live and How to survive
When every brain has a common thought
To torn me in pieces or burn alive
I sit alone and contemplate
On all the issues and allegations
I love, I respect yet I get hate
From all the religions and all the nations
They call me stinking, despite my sweat
Which I spread with each smile
I am called a ‘militant’
They question my love for my soil
I am a patriot, I know it well
But I am forced to prove again and again
My devotion, loyalty and my metal
Oh! Could I show them my thoughts and brain?
Oh! By God! I don’t betray
Nor am I a treasonist
Then why do all the people say
You are a Muslim and a terrorist
With despise their heart they fill
They make laws to keep me handcuffed
They abuse, they lynch and they kill
Their minds against me have been stuffed
But oh my country, oh my dream
Oh my pride, oh my esteem
I will live and die for you
And the day will come out of the blue
When blinds in belief would get the eyes
When my lynching brother would realize
That I mean love and not the harm
That
each Muslim is an ‘Abdul Kalam’About the Poet: Nazarat Khan is a lecturer in English and a Poonch based poet