"The power of this cultural resistance lies in dignity politics. It lies in drawing attention to actual experiences of discrimination." Award-winning author Githa Hariharan expresses solidarity with #MiyaPoets of #Assam who are being harassed with multiple police complaints registered against them for writing and reciting poems of resistance. #Miya means gentleman in Urdu, but it is used as a slur in Assam to target the Bengali-origin Assamese Muslim. Miya Poetry is a powerful articulation of identity and selfhood. It echoes the fears of a community threatened by social and systemic discrimination as well as the looming threat of exclusion from the #NRC.
First published in Newsclick. Video courtesy Karwan-e-Mohabbat.
