Human Rights Day This day refers to a dark page in human history. This occurred on March 21 in Nineteen-Sixty. Without passbook no Black could travel around, Otherwise such person would guilty be found Of contravening Pass Law and then summarily arrested. Blacks objected vehemently and politically protested. It was on this precise day in Nineteen-Sixty That a protest campaign was organised by the PAC, Which ordered Blacks that their passbooks they should burn And for willing arrest they should jointly turn. In most of the areas there was peaceful protest, But bullied in some places and placed under arrest. Ten thousand Blacks congregated, as we historically know, At Sharpville, near Vereeniging, where blood did flow. Police fired on crowd with automatic machine gun, While the shocked crowd panicked and wildly did run. When shooting abated, sixty-nine persons lay dead, Hundred-and-seventy-eight wounded bodies were filled with lead. In Langa, near Cape Town, protesters also milled. The tragedy much lighter, when only two Blacks were killed. Most of those slaughtered were shot in the back, An act of utter mercilessness of White upon Black. With the advent of democracy, historians say, It was decided to commemorate with a public holiday. Never should we forget how Black human beings had no basic right; How they struggled for freedom in continuous fight Against a regime that showed little respect or mercy, Until the country acquired its much needed democracy.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:30:27 +0000
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