You are my brother
Binayak Sen Bhai
I have never met you in the flesh
I know not from whence you come
I have never embraced you
held you in my arms
fixed my gaze upon you
exchanged conversations
not once have I
stood in your presence
You are my brother
Binayak Sen Bhai
your suffering
pains me
touches every fiber of my being
your plight wounds my heart
the hands of tyranny
diminishes
all our universal souls
We share the same vision
Binayak Sen Bhai
our activism is born
from the same love
the love of freedom
the love for the down trodden
for the masses,
for ordinary men,
woman, and children
short changed by political rhetoric
They have incarcerated you
Binayak Sen Bhai
put you behind prison walls
how foolish they are
do they not know
the truth, enunciated
by great souls
Mahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King
Nelson Mandela
cannot be vanquished
cannot be crucified
by those that wish
to vandalize the truth
for political expediency
and narrow self-interest
You have dedicated your life
with out question
given untainted obedience
to your noble profession
upheld the Hippocratic oath
served with humility
the most indigent
the destitute,
exploited and marginalized
by those in power
Your prison
has become your hall of fame
on its walls are decorated
your noble virtues
your unconditional love
for the impoverished
the pursuit for truth
and justice
your noble defence against
those that adulterate the truth
in pursuit of greed and power
We salute you
I salute you
in the name of the struggle
I am your brother
Binayak Sen Bhai