Sacrificing Our Children At The Altar of Our State

By Sauvik Chakraverti

As elections near, our Reichwing Press is going ballistic urging people, especially young people, to vote.

Vote for whom? All our “political parties” are quasi-criminal gangs. They have no principles; they have no real ideology. They are all corrupt to the core. Their leaders are all “pragmatists.” Why should our idealistic youth be encouraged to vote? Why not encourage them to boycott elections? Wouldn’t that teach the old fuddy-duddies like Chacha Manmohan and Advani a good lesson?

However, what really got my goat was an ad on UndieTV last night, which featured parents promising to vote with their hands placed on their children’s heads. “I swear on the head of my child that I will vote,” they all said.

What kind of bullshit is this?

We are being encouraged to sacrifice our children at the altar of our The State?

Just as Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

God was testing Abraham's obedience.

Is our Obedience being tested by our The State?

Abraham obeyed God. These parents are obeying the Reichwing Press!

Leonard Cohen, the great Canadian poet and songwriter, composed “The Story of Isaac” to warn against those who will sacrifice one generation for another. Here are the lyrics. Very powerful indeed, so read them carefully.

The door it opened slowly,
My father he came in,
I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
His blue eyes they were shining,
And his voice was very cold.
He said, I’ve had a vision
And you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told.
So we started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
The lake a lady’s mirror,
We stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over,
Broke a minute later,
And he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
But it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
He looked once behind his shoulder,
He knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now,
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision,
And you never have been tempted,
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before.
When I lay upon a mountain,
And my fathers hand was trembling
With the beauty of the Word.

And if you call me brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
Just according to whose plan?
When it all comes down to dust,
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust,
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
Have mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan.

The portion in bold is inscribed on the front page of my book, Antidote: Essays Against The Socialist Indian State (Macmillan India: 2000). This song is very dear to my heart.

My message to the youth is this: Reject the old. Reject the aged. It is their mistakes that have bequeathed this Predatory State upon us. It is the aged of today who deified Gandhi and Nehru, who worshipped State power. They claim to have “fought for freedom” – but their legacy is just Slavery.

Reminds me of another great song – Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A’Changin’” – where he says:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land,
And don't criticize
What you can't understand,
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command,
Your old road is
Rapidly aging.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

Go sing that to the aged, to Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi and Advani, to Laloo and Sharad Pawar – all the PMs-in-waiting.

Don’t allow yourself to be sacrificed at the altar of our The State.

Your life is yours alone.

Tell your parents what Kahlil Gibran wrote in The Prophet:

“Your children are not born to you, but through you.”

It’s Your Life.