{"id":8477,"date":"2019-06-20T14:53:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=8477"},"modified":"2019-06-20T14:53:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:53:01","slug":"romi-jain-remembering-tiananmen-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/romi-jain-remembering-tiananmen-square","title":{"rendered":"Romi Jain: Remembering Tiananmen Square"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"How stunning is human history:<\/div>\n
Events sometimes<\/div>\n
Take place in the lap of locations<\/div>\n
They contradict.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It happened on June 4, 1989.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the precincts of Tiananmen Square,<\/div>\n
Unarmed protestors met with massacre:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The \u201cgate of heavenly peace\u201d became an orb of slain urges to Freedom;<\/div>\n
Chang\u2019an Avenue-\u201ceternal peace street\u201d-<\/div>\n
Stupefied stood.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A square shed ordinariness of the unison of four sides<\/div>\n
When the Goddess of Democracy incarnated in a statue;<\/div>\n
A multitude of students broke out of dormancy<\/div>\n
To challenge state-ordained ideology,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Reflecting the spirit of Paulo Freire\u2019s critical pedagogy,<\/div>\n
Questioning the \u2018culture of silence\u2019<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Remembering the dear Hu Yaobang,<\/div>\n
They shouted the slogan of their cherished desire:<\/div>\n
Long live democracy!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The movement grew sturdier<\/div>\n
When a million people marched through streets<\/div>\n
Clamoring for liberty, for freedom of speech,<\/div>\n
For elimination of corruption;<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The hunger for democracy outshone<\/div>\n
The hunger of stomach<\/div>\n
When a protester passed by<\/div>\n
With a poster stuck on his back:<\/div>\n
\u201cI need food,<\/div>\n
But I would rather die for democracy\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The peacefulness of protests was thorny<\/div>\n
To the regime that controlled<\/div>\n
The wind of the State, such that<\/div>\n
No bud was allowed to grow<\/div>\n
Without checking the pollens.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tyrannical onslaughts ensued<\/div>\n
With the declaration of martial law;<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Like hungry tigers, tanks and guns were let loose.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Civilians pleaded with the soldiers:<\/div>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t do that\u2026would you kill your own people?\u201d<\/div>\n
Unheeding, the troops brought down the barricades<\/div>\n
Put up in defense of unarmed protesters.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Like ferocious wheels of a crushing crane, the tanks<\/div>\n
Kept proceeding, trampling on defenseless demonstrators.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
AK 47 rifles were triggered.<\/div>\n
Heaps of bodies<\/div>\n
Bathing in their own blood lay in streets,<\/div>\n
In Tiananmen Square, with dead dreams.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Their desire for liberation from authoritarianism<\/div>\n
Had been suppressed<\/div>\n
With liberation from lives.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tiananmen Square is quiet today.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Tank Man who caught the world attention<\/div>\n
By halting the powerful tanks for brief moments<\/div>\n
Through his valiant, peaceful defiance,<\/div>\n
Lies somewhere\u2014alive or dead\u2014in the debris<\/div>\n
Of history<\/div>\n
That the authorities desperately keep burying<\/div>\n
Until it is forgotten, once for all.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The souls of the perished youths roam around<\/div>\n
Tiananmen Square,<\/div>\n
Asking visitors: \u201cdo you remember us?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not getting a response, they aver:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen democracy arrives, we shall rise;<\/div>\n
You\u2019ll recognize!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com\/remembering-tiananmen-square-259\/<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How stunning is human history: Events so … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[2094,101],"views":2602,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8479,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8477\/revisions\/8479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}