Poetry in Parliament

Does political poetry have any value at all?

At a poetry recital, a video of which is available on YouTube, Urdu poet Rahat Indori recollects an incident from the Emergency (1975-1977). At a mushaira one night, Indori had declared: “Sarkar chor hai (The government is a thief).” The next morning he got a summons from the local police station where the officer asked him: “Did you say last night the government is a thief?” “Yes,” replied Indori, “but I didn’t say which government — whether of India or Pakistan or the US.” The police officer interjected: “You think we are idiots? Do we not know which government is