September 11 as a significant date has diverse amount of connotations. Some of them are social. Some cultural, and most others socio-political. Mukherjee. P explores…
…BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A 9/11 POEM
….Because this is not a 9/11 poem
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
A 9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem
This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written,
And if this is a 9/11 poem, then
This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971
This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977
This is a September 13th poem for the brothers in Attica Prison, New York, 1971
This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992
This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes
This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told
The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks
The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times and Newsweek ignored
This is a poem for interrupting this programme…
Emmanuel Ortiz (written on 9/11/2002)
Amongst the many dates, myriad landmarks and many twists and turns of human history, September 11 represents a watershed. A specific immovable dot that will haunt the world political landscape. How diverse is the path of the dot? Has the dot moved, or are we still grappling with the ghosts of the past? Here is a journey of the dot. Some factual. Some personal. But then the phenomenon of the dot always has this specific quality about being both eclectic and insane. After all, this dot is a continuation…it is a conclusion…it is a pause and most importantly it is a reminder why all sentences need a dot to celebrate, continue and perish…
1) Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago address was on September 11.
Swami Vivekananda Way
“Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.” – That’s how Vivekananda concluded his welcome address at the ‘World Parliament of Religions’ in 1893. And even after what happened on the Sept’11 of 2001, his words still rise higher, and we are still hoping to hear the final death-knell of fanaticism and terrorism.
2) Mahatma Gandhi’s historic movement in South Africa began on September 11.
Gandhiji with other leaders of the movement in South Africa
After facing racial oppression during his stay in South Africa, and following the promulgation of an act by a Transvaal govt. which forced the registration of the colony’s Indian population, Gandhiji adopted his methodology of ‘Satyagraha’ or non-violent protest for the first time, at a mass protest rally in Johannesburg on Sept’11. This was followed by a 7 year period of struggle, when ‘Satyagraha’ truly evolved.
Such, is the legacy of the date, which we now remember mostly, for one of the most violent acts in history!
3) A military coup overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile.
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
On Sept’11 of 1973, the US government backed the coup with guns, money and CIA support. General Augusto Pinochet took over and established an anti-communist military dictatorship which lasted until 1990. One of the blackest dates of that aggression was on September 11. The September casualties included President Salvador Allende and one of the greatest poets of the nation Victor Jara.
4) On the 11th September of 1857, the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
One of the most ruthless massacres, where 120 innocent emigrants – men, women and children who were travelling from Arkansas to California, were killed by a group of Mormons with the help of local Paiute Indians, in Mountain Meadows, Utah.
A bitter and tragic past of heavy persecution of the Mormons by the federal govt. was behind such an act of violent hatred and paranoia.
5) The September 11 when Gajanan Madhav Mukhtibodh decided to seek his own Nirvana.
Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh
One of the giants of progressive Hindi poetry, a deeply radical and socialist poet, best known for his long poems: Brahma-rakhasa, Chand Ka Muh Teda Hai (The Moon Wears A Crooked Smile), and Bhuri Bhuri Khak Dhul (The Brown Dry Dust) his complete works extending to 6 volumes, were published in 1980, as Muktibodh Rachnavali…His loss would always be the ground zero on the rough terrain of Hindi poetry.
6) It was this date, which saw the birth of a different people ranging from D.H Lawrence (1885) to Theodore Adorno (1903).
D.H Lawrence and Theodore Adorno
Two very different social philosophers in their own right. D.H Lawrence gave us controversial, yet literary masterpieces in novels like – ‘Sons & Lovers’ and ‘Women in Love’… Adorno, gave us complex, dialectical theories on themes like ‘Popular Culture’, Culture industry, and his marvellous sociological interpretation of ‘music’.
7) The Loss of great musicians – Peter Tosh and Joe Zawinul
Peter Tosh and Joe Zawinul
The same date was witness to the loss of important voices of the world of protest including Jamaican musician and legend Peter Tosh and the jazz legend Joey Zawinul.
A great progressive musician in his own right, Peter Tosh was murdered in his own house on Sept’11, 1987 and Joe Zawinul lost his life to a rare skin cancer on the same date in 2007.
8) The Sept’11 Anthologies
Dancing in Cambodia cover
Of all the September 11 poems/books/novels/short stories/album/essays…two that remain outstanding (though it’s strictly a matter of personal choice -in this case, mine!) is Amitabh Ghosh’s essay called September 11 (currently added in the new edition of his anthology of essays ‘Dancing in Cambodia’) and a scathing song rendered by Ani Defranco.
9) A thwarted attack?
Frank Eugene Corder
One of the most interesting trivia about this date is that in 1994, a maverick Frank Eugene Corder stole a Cessna plane and intended it to crash into the White House before his plans became public and he became a footnote in the history books.
10) The Beatles recorded ‘Love Me Do’ in 1962 at Abbey Road Studio in London.
‘Love me do’ picture
Here’s what they had to say, about this song:
Paul (1988): ‘Love Me Do’ was us trying to do the blues. It came out whiter because it always does. We’re white, and we were just young Liverpool musicians. We didn’t have the finesse to be able to actually sound black. But ‘Love Me Do’ was probably the first bluesy thing we tried to do.”
Ringo (1976): “The first record, ‘Love Me Do’, for me that was more important than anything else. That first piece of plastic. You can’t believe how great that was. It was wonderful. We were on a record!”
11) An Important date in the Israeli-Palestine conflict
Sabra and Shatila massacre
September 11 is an important date that keeps recurring in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. It was this date in 1982 when the international forces intervened and guaranteed the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. Of course, five days later, in one of the worst genocides in the human history several thousand refugees were massacred in the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps.
Again, it was on this date in the year 2005, that the state of Israel completed its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza strip.
As the 12th man is always caught in a politics of inclusion/exclusion, we present to you our 12th image which lies precariously on the edge of national identity and democracy: It is on this day in 1958, that The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was passed, thereby giving ‘special’ powers to the armed forces in what it termed as “disturbed areas”. Irom Sharmila’s revolution is far from over …
That’s 9/11….an ever opening, ever closing Pandora’s box.
