In the Offices of the United Nations

Omair Bhat

In the offices of the United Nations,
making a case for freedom
of the occupied people is
complicated paperwork

It takes years and decades 
and centuries until 
what's left of us 
dissolves 
in the sand

Fugitive ambassadors tell me that
as long as we don't bribe 
Assembly Generals
to hasten on our files 
howling attention

Our freedom won't arrive

---

On 'In the Offices of United Nations'

The poem uses an epigrammatic approach to point out the decades-long institutional inefficiency of the United Nations on conducting the proposed plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. It would have been a momentous step towards resolving the internecine conflict as per the wishes of the people of this territory. These bureaucratic failures have only emboldened India to oppress the people of Kashmir however it wishes.

The art in the poem’s thumbnail, titled "1946/Kashmiri Children Posing for a Picture" , is courtesy of © @kashmirpopart.