Schoolgirl raped and murdered; cops on hunt for Deepak and gang

We came on foot, we came on boats, shouting slogans of Azadi.

We stood on roof tops and sat on walls under the burning midday sun,

Listening to the words that we had longed to hear for so long.

Words that had been scripted through the lonely fears of our hearts.

Words that were spoken now with the clarity of courage.

Words that were spoken now with the suppressed strength of pent up anger.

Words that were spoken now with the certainty of belonging to the soil 

Which had become one with the dust of our ancestors.

We stood there in the waves of heat

Feeling the surge and press  of countless bodies around us.

Bodies meshed through the odour of sweat 

And the shared fear of a common persecution.

And hanging from the roof tops,

And tied to the poles,

And clutched in hands slippery with sweat,

And wrapped round the pillars,

And spreading into our blood,

Were three strips of colour with a wheel of spokes,

Sewn together into the shape of our being.

Woven into the folds of our future and the creases of our past. 

Stitched to the seams of the earth, the water, the air and the sky 

That belonged to us and to which we belonged. 

And we stood there from noon to evening,

We the people of India.

Raising our clenched fists like signposts to the future.

Chanting slogans like a new anthem.

Kin to each other through the ties of community.

Born to live and die 

In a nation that was ours to hold on to

And ours to belong to.

Dr Parinitha is a professor of English in Mangalore University. She penned the poem soon after participating in the historic protest against CAA, NPR and NRC at Shah Garden, Adyar, Mangaluru on 15th January, 2020.

Also Read: 

‘The more you try to divide us, the stronger and united we’ll be’: Record turnout in Mangaluru’s anti-NRC protest

Anti-NRC protest in Mangaluru brings ‘media bias’ to the fore

Mumbai, May 19: Even as banks in United Arab Emirates are trying to trace NMC founder BR Shetty, a prominent bank in India is seeking to recover loans worth Rs19.13 billion from him and his companies. 

A local court has also barred him and his wife from selling or transferring some properties while it hears the case.

In the court filing, the Bank of Baroda said Shetty had an obligation to handover the title deeds of the 16 properties and mortgage the assets with the bank.

The 16 properties in several Indian cities including Bengaluru were among guarantees put up by Shetty and his wife against the Rs19.13 billion ($253 million) loans, according to a May 16 court order seen by Reuters. The court in Bengalaru set the next hearing in the case for June 8.

NMC, the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE, was placed under administration in April after months of turmoil. It disclosed in March it had debts of $6.6 billion, well above earlier estimates of $2.1 billion.

Finablr, in which Shetty has a controlling stake, said in April it may have nearly $1 billion more in debt than previously reported.

Karwar, Jan 4: One student died and twelve others were seriously injured when a school bus in which they were travelling from Anantapur district fell into a gorge near Gerusoppa Soolemarki Cross in Honnavar taluk of Uttar Kannada district last night, police said on Saturday.

The deceased student has been identified as T Basha Fakruddin (14).

Police said on that on Friday students of a government school from Anantapur district were on a trip to Jog, Murdeshwar and other places. There were 44 children, nine teachers and four cooking staff in the bus, police said.