I will love him
And no, his name isn’t going to stop me
His blood line, nor your threats of a bloodied body
No, I will not stop
I will not stop when you raise those saffron flags against me,
You cannot
You cannot wrap my heart around the saffron shroud
My heart bleeds in red, the colour of love
Your heart bleeds in red too, the colour of danger
And I will love him
Through every urdu shayari
Through every Sanskrit shloka
Through every sun rising
And through every moon and star
And guess what I’ll be wearing on my wedding?
A green dress, and him? A saffron turban
Stop me.
Stop me because I didn’t protect the integrity of your religion
Because I have no longer the right to call it mine
Stop me because a person worshipping another god is a sinner for you, lover for me
Stop me because I have brought you shame
Because you yourself find no shame in using the words love and jihad side by side
But I will still love him
And his name isn’t stopping me, neither is yours
And your questions of my relationship with him
Will not be answered in silence
He’s my love
So let me love him