First they came for the Kashmiri’s

They said Kashmir is a hub of separatists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Kashmiri

Then they came for the Muslims

– they said they are termites and infiltrators
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Muslim

Then they came for the Malayalis

– they said Kerala was infested with ISIS and ISI
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Malayali

Then the came for the Sikhs

– they said Punjab was filled with Khalistani terrorists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Sikh

And then they came for me
But there was no one left
To speak out for me …

2nd October 2019. Author unknown. Variation of poem on the walls of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.