Dear India, to Have a Naya Start, Lend Voice to the Voiceless

Asma Khan from Mumbai shares how India can start afresh.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

(On the occasion of Republic Day, The Quint relaunches its campaign ‘Letter to India – Ek Naya Start’ and invites readers to send in suggestions to rebuild India after a tough 2020.

Asma Khan from Mumbai shares how India can start afresh. The views expressed are her own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for them.)

Dear India,

I am a nineteen-year-old girl from Mumbai who had only read about violence, riots, detention camps, and discrimination. The only image I had for all of these was imaginary, or what I had created in my mind after reading about it in my History class.

The fact that it never affected me made me realise that history is important and we must take its lessons seriously before it's too late.

Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust and winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, in his acceptance speech refers to a Jewish boy who asked his father of the Holocaust, “Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?”

I now ask the same question. How can India remain so silent and ignorant?

When peaceful protesters are called ‘anti-national’ or ‘terrorists’, I ask myself, how could this be true? We are in the 21st century; educated, more advanced in terms of knowledge and technology. How can our people not raise our voice against injustice? Why don't we feel anything when violence as in Delhi in February 2020 erupts in our country?

In his speech, Wiesel later continued, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victims. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes, we must interfere... Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the centre of the universe.”

When I talk to the people of India and of other countries, I want to tell them that our silence will only be beneficial to the one who wishes to destruct. We should learn to raise our voice against injustice. Problems like malnutrition, casteism, political persuasion demand our immediate attention.

What the victims of these evils need is our support. They need to know that they are not alone, that when their voice are stifled, we will lend them ours. We should become the voice of the voiceless and give back the freedom they deserve.

Dear India, unless we become the hope of the hopeless, we are doing injustice to humankind.