Vignettes from the Holocaust/ Saadat Hassan Manto
Good riddance
Pakar lo, Pakar lo! Don't you let him go.' They gave him
the chase. The man was nabbed. When a spear was being pierced
into his body he pleaded in his trembling voice. 'Please don't
kill me! Please don't kill me! I am going home on chutti
(vacation).'
A raw deal
There were ten or twenty girls. They paid forty-two rupees to
buy off one of them.
The man was furious when the girl disclosed her name.
'Were we not told that you belonged to another community!'
'He pulled a fast one on you,' the girl replied.
The man rushed to his friend's house.
'That bastard has cheated us. He palmed off to us a girl from
our own community. Come, let's pack her off.'
Hospitality delayed
Rioters brought the running train to a halt. People to the other
community were pulled out and slaughtered with swords and bullets.
The rest of the passengers were treated to halwa, fruits
and milk.
The chief assassin made a farewell speech before the train pulled
out of the station: 'Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies. News
of this trian's arrival was delayed. That is why we have not been
able to entertain you lavishly -- the way we wanted to.'
Mourning the dead
The mob turned to its next target -- Sir Ganga Ram's statue. They
rained lathi blows on it, hurled bricks and stones. One
of them disfigured the statue with coal tar. Somebody else collected
old shoes to make a garland out of them. He proceeded towards
the statue.
But the policemen appeared on the scene. They opened fire.
The man holding the garland of shoes was hit by a bullet. He was
sent for first-aid to the nearby Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Initiative
The first untoward incident occurred near the crossing of the
hotel. Soon thereafter a policemen was posted there.
The very next day another incident took place in the evening.
Right in front of the store. The cop posted earlier was brought
to that spot.
The third incident happened at midnight. Around the laundrette.
The inspector commanded the sepoy to move to the new area of tension.
The sepoy deliberated. After a while he said: 'Dispatch me to
an area where a fresh skirmish is likely to take place.'
'Mishtake'
The knife slid down his groin. His pyjama cord was cut into two.
His genitals were exposed.
'Chi, chi, chi, I've made a mishtake,' the assassin said
with a sense of remorse.
Respite needed
He isn't dead yet. See, see, he is still gasping for breath.'
'Let it go, yaar. I am already exhausted.'
Translated from the Urdu by Mushirul Hasan.
Excerpted from India Partitioned: The other face of freedom, Part I,
Lotus collection, Roli books, New Delhi, 1995, Rs 595, with the publisher's permission.
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