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[Author: Shivani Chaudhry | Date Published:  18 December 2024]   FOR THOSE *STILL* SILENT ON THE GAZA GENOCIDE: If you could lose your job for speaking out against genocide, then it may not be a place worth working at. If you worry what 'others' will say if you stand against genocide, then those 'others' need to be ignored. If you feel a genocide occurring in another country doesn't concern you, you're wrong. It does. Genocide affects each one of us; it violates *every* principle of life, of humanity, of humanness, and of morality. Genocide anywhere is a threat to humanity everywhere. What if your land, your home, your community, your city were being annihilated? What if those being massacred were your children, your parents, your grandparents, your siblings, your friends? What if your children's limbs had to be amputated without anesthesia? What if they never recovered from such trauma? What if you had been displaced multiple times, pushed...

Published by THE HINDU, SUNDAY MAGAZINE [ Author: Shivani Chaudhry | Date Published: 29 August 2004] “And while you swallow every image they present |  We'll sing the songs to fan the flames of discontent.” ~ Refused (a Swedish band) ========= The culture of resistance is a critical component of democracy, of a liberal society, of a progressive polity. Without resistance there is no change. Without change there is no hope.   Art is, and has been, an effective means of resistance. A vibrant culture of resistance reflects the moral, political, social ethic of a nation. It is the pulse of a society with a conscience. It is the inspiration of a people that dream. It is art in its truest form. To separate art from politics is to deny its purpose. Yes, art is art because it is. Always. It doesn’t need to be justified. But political art is social art is critical art is living art. It is art for a meaning, with a meaning.   Hugh Masekala: Exiled for his music from South Africa ...

[Date Published: 7 December 2024] Dr Refaat Alareer was martyred in Gaza on 7 December 2023. I had been in touch with him after reading the powerfully moving book, 'Gaza Writes Back,' which he'd edited. His brutal murder shattered me.  In honour of this brave and brilliant academic, poet, and writer, I wrote this poem.  ===== FOR REFAAT ALAREER by Shivani Chaudhry  ===== They feared your words, they killed you But couldn't slay your words. Your words are wisdom  Hope and resistance  Dreams and defiance Praxis and pain Courage and compassion Truth and love   Each word a white kite Soaring over global skies Echoing in halls of justice In every language of our souls In every river of freedom Your words, immortal Your life, a timeless tale, always Inspiring the world to write back   Let no one ever say words are powerless ==== Read Refaat's last poem — 'If I must die' — now translated into multiple languages: https://ifimustdie.net/

Published by TEHELKA [Author: Shivani Chaudhry | Date Published:  22 October 2005 ] "Quick… children kiss us… we are growing… through dream."   ~ Audre Lorde   Radhakrishna - with a stack of newspapers he sold at the traffic light in Delhi [March 2005] Radhakrishna, 13. An ever-smiling boy. Dies on October 4, 2005 in a hospital in Ajmer. Why? Because Delhi didn’t protect his right to live. Didn’t give him housing. Forced him to live on the streets. Compelled him to eat substandard food. Subjected him to the harshest of elements. Deprived him of his human rights. Snatched away his childhood. And when he was sick, failed to provide him basic healthcare. “No one cares about poor children. We are left to fend for ourselves,” blurts out Lali, recounting the tragedy. After running from one hospital to another in distress, after receiving no assistance, and after discovering that they could not afford the prescribed treatment, Radhakrishna’s relatives took him back to Ajmer...

SOCIAL MEDIA POST [Thread on Twitter/X] Author: Shivani Chaudhry | Date Published: 20 December 2023 | For most people, getting Covid is a disruption that passes. But for the millions who develop Long Covid, that disruption could be persistent – for years. After 33 months of living with this complex chronic illness, here are some reflections: 1.     The belief that if you fall ill, the healthcare system will help you recover – doesn't hold true for   people with complex or invisible illnesses.  Dismissal, mistreatment , and  denial of health   insurance  are often the norm.    2.     In the absence of adequate support systems,  the burden of survival, of searching for treatments, and of advocating for cures lies mostly with patients of complex illness . This is most unfair.     3.     Diseases are non-hierarchical but false narratives of hierarchy in the medical system have led to t...