Art: Ashwin Chacko
Why send your children to school when you can place guns in their hands and direct them to shoot?
Shoot those who dare rise against you, those who raise their voices to resist you. Shoot those who speak not in your mother tongue. Shoot those who chant a different prayer than yours. Shoot them, their wives, their mothers, their children. Shoot them all. Chase them down the streets, hurling rocks at them, smash their skulls with bars and rods. If you do not find them there, barge into their homes with jars of gasoline and matches. You can spot them hiding behind tables, behind the doors, the mother in the kitchen, the little girl under the bed. The dog whimpering in the backyard and the tiny boy clung to his father’s chest. Light the house on fire and burn them all. Look what they’re reading. Bradbury, Ayn Rand and Orwell. Does the public pay for them to read these? Rip the pages apart, tear down the library, douse the books with petrol and burn them all. The youth must wave the flag and march the streets, must whip the women and discipline them, must carry guns and shoot those who oppose them. What are they doing with their paintbrushes and pens? What are they doing painting graffiti on the walls? How dare they sing songs of love and resistance? Traitors! Break their hands and cut off their tongues. Shoot the women who dare touch books, who dare lift their veils, who dare utter a word unless instructed, who peek out of windows and stand at doorways, those who do not worship you every day. Shoot those whose color is different from yours. Worry not about newspapers and media outlets, we’ve acquired them all. They serve us now. If not, shoot them too. Do not tremble or sigh. Make your masters proud and they shall fill your pockets and pay for your alcohol. Here, take this gun and shoot them all. Read more on Satwik's blog or Instagram.