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Dismay and Horror
An open letter to Cindy Sheehan from a supporter in India.
08/24/05 "ICH" -- --
Dear Cindy,
We are very far away from you in terms of distance, but very close to you in spirit. America, for many of us in other parts of the world, is not a landmass or a country, but the embodiment of the principles that it stood for. The principles that are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the principles for which people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died for.
"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We watched in dismay and horror when these principles were hijacked in the name of freedom and democracy by your leaders. Dismay and horror not at the fact that these people were acting in these ways. That was to be expected. Dismay and horror at the silence of the majority. The majority which by its silence declared itself as a supporter for what was happening in its name. The majority that was culpable by association.
You and those who stand with you, both in person and in spirit, changed that. Never again can it be said that the principles for which America stood are dead. They may well be hijacked. But as long as there are people like you, Cindy and like those who stand with you in Crawford and who support you across the nation and the world, these principles will never die. They will live in the hearts and minds of those who value them enough to stand up for them, to speak out for them and to be counted as those who were willing to defy the oppressors in order to fight for real freedom.Only then can there be real peace.
Peace is an effect of justice, Cindy. Until justice is established, there will always be people who will disturb the peace to fight for justice. And until justice is established any apparent peace will only be a recess between wars.
May Allah be with you and protect and help you in ways that you may not be able to see but which you will feel and the effect of which you will certainly see. We in India, are all praying for you and for the success of your mission and are with you in spirit.
"The pinnacle of faith is to speak the truth in the face of the tyrant." Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him)
Yawar Baig <yawarbaig@gmail.com>
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