A Bangladeshi couple had to be subjected to extreme cruelty in Saudi Arabia for the crime of love. They were caught and executed by public beheading (decapitation) under the pretext of strict religious laws and bigotry. As soon as the news of this brutal killing in public, destroying the right to love in a free and civilized society, extreme anger spread on social media. The names of the deceased are Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Sweety Akhtar. It is learnt that the newlywed couple went to Saudi Arabia for Umrah instead of going on honeymoon after their wedding. And that journey was their fate.
Poet Srijatar's pen in protest: 'Let love itself bear witness' Poet Srijatar has roared on social media in protest of the horror of the incident and the atrocities committed in the name of religion through a powerful poem. In the poem, he directly attacked the blind fanaticism that considers touch and love to be crimes (infidels) while effortlessly giving 'legitimate' or legality to barbarities like murder.
Srijatar's controversial poem is given below:
A religion that says kissing is forbidden, killing is okay -
Against that, love itself bears witness!
A religion that says the wall is permissible, love is an infidel -
Let the flag fly against it, kissing.
The religion that wants the right to touch to disappear -
The alternative is a time-honored rebellion.
The religion that can kill, without suffering
Let the wind blow against it in all countries. Let the wind say, as far as darkness goes -
The kingdom is even longer than that, of fairy tales.
In the four fists of the prince and princess
The whole world is still trapped...
The religion that says kissing is forbidden, killing is okay -
From today, millions of lovers should be born against it every moment.
The message of the poem and cultural reaction:
Shrijat has given a clear message in this writing of his - no matter how wide the boundaries of darkness are, the power of fairy tale love is even longer. Every time fanatics play Holi of blood by banning the touch and kiss of love, the only worthy response against it can be to give birth to more and more love.
After this tragic incident in Saudi Arabia, this poem by Srijata spread across the internet in an instant, and supporters of human rights and free thought around the world are expressing their anger and protest through this writing.