Rupi Kaur, a poet residing in Canada, who is ethnically Punjabi (as she calls her) has denounced the US Government’s official stance regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. This rejection of the United States’ foreign policies has come in response to the White House’s invitation which was sent to her for Diwali Celebration being organized by The White House.
Rupi Kaur’s statement which she posted on X (formerly Twitter) is a politically charged statement which reminds her fans as well as others the consciousness marking of her stance as the poet calls out the “collective punishment” which has exacerbated the sufferings of the innocent Palestinian lives who had already been living through enormously turbulence, given the complicated history and geography of the region in consideration.
This fact that rupi kaur has chosen to take a stance in such a conflict which has seen enormously polarized views, speaks for the politics that the poet supports, considering she is not obligated in any sense to speak. The backlash as a consequence supposedly knocks the doors of the celebrities who choose to speak up and express themselves.
Rupi kaur has been in a way consistent with respect to speaking up, against atrocities being committed on people, she has also released a statement in support of the Farmers Protests which marked the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. She had also come out in support of Anti-CAA protests and had called out Narendra Modi as a “tyrant”. Not only that, she had also supported the garment workers of Bangladesh for increasing awareness on how their job is exploitative.
This statement by rupi kaur is political as there have been numerous instances where in Pro-palestine academicians as well as corporate-workers are being removed from their jobs only because they chose to formulate their opinion on the issue which does not necessarily align with the view of their boss/owner of their company/their supervisor/senior.
The hierarchy in the work-spaces has in a way determined the stance that people are supposed to take. This has marked a systemic constraining of liberty on the part of those who are at a disadvantageous position with respect to the hierarchy.
While explaining the intent behind her stance, rupi kaur referred to morality and how they are defined by the culture, she said “It is our moral imperative to call for justice when a government’s actions dehumanize people anywhere in the world,” the poet’s official statement emphasized. Demand a humanitarian ceasefire by uniting with the rest of the world.”
Moreover, by linking to the fact that humanity is supposed to stand against such intense being committed on innocent people she referred to what the meaning of the festivals such as diwali is supposed to be. Talking about her own Punjabi ethnicity she expressed how acts of courage government by the intent of humanitarianism have historically been a part of Sikh Culture.
Further calling on the cohort that she belongs to, she encourages other people to call out a spade a spade, while she urges the South Asian community to demand accountability from the US government. She said, “As a Sikh woman, I will not allow my likeness to be used in whitewashing this administration’s actions.”
In the most recent news from Gaza, approximately 10,000 civilians have been killed by the Israeli armed forces, amongst which approximately half are children, this is the 31st day of the War, and blatant atrocities on civilians are being justified in the name of self-defense.
