Declaration – We Don’t Do Beef in Bakhri Eid

We have Eid here Showkat sahab*
And my children have crammed
what we will sacrifice on Eid:
Bakhra…Bakhra…Bakhra
Repetitively… Religiously…Rigorously.
My mother has cleaned the fridge
Five times
She has thrown out leftover dishes
And she has wiped off every trace of
Butter chicken too
Lest some food police mistake them
And shout:
Beef Beef Beef!
And my brothers have tied the Bakhra
Outside on the porch to the mango tree.
It’s bleating the whole morning
My brothers want the Hindu neighbours to know
It’s Chagol/Bakhra/Goat.

Now we have to wear secularism
On our forehead.

The fridge is a new-tasting war field
And a bulldozer is on constant watch
outside its door.

*Eleven houses where beef was found demolished in Madhyapradesh
*Sheikh Showkat Hossain is a Kashmiri researcher who is named along with Arundhati Roy for the prosecution under UAPA