Silent Majority

SASWAT PATTANAYAK
1 min readDec 16, 2015

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First they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Pakistani.

Then they came for the women, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Feminist.

Then they came for the Adivasis, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Naxalite.

Then they came for the Dalits, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not an Ambedkarite.

Then they came for the rationalists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the farmers, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Gandhian.

Then they came for the beef-eaters, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Sickular.

Then they came for the historians, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not an Intellectual.

Then they came for the filmmakers, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a starving Artist.

They are coming after the working class, dividing us up, every single day -And I know I will not speak out still -
Because I am not really a revolutionary.

(Saswat Pattanayak, 2015)

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