Lest We Forget Her Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Notes: The 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who was murdered by the Iranian police after she was taken into custody for not wearing her hijab "properly", has become the symbol of all women who long for independence from the religious gyves that symbolise male hegemony. The entire world is with her in the fight against the male chauvinist, malevolent dictatorship of Iran. This poem is for her, in her memory. Words and phrases: (1) *ayuthayutham- ayutham (Sanskrit) is ten thousand. Ayuthayutham is, therefore,100 million. (2) "Their feet on her head"- Hijab, the headscarf is now celebrated by the Islamic fundamentalists as the symbol of male hegemony over the lives of women. The story of Mahabali, the ‘Asura' emperor who was driven to Tartarus by Vamana by the push of his foot, may also be recalled. (3) "so that she doesn't open her eyes" - wrong malevolent interpretation of the following shlokam from Indian Scripture ‘Manusmriti': पिता रक्षति कौमारे भर्ता रक्षति यौवने । रक्षन्ति स्थविरे पुत्रा न स्त्री स्वातन्त्र्यमर्हति ॥ That is, (interpreted wrongly) a woman is protected by her father in her childhood, by her husband in her youth and by her sons in her old age. A woman should never be left alone to fend for herself.