Page 52 - Train to Pakistan

with the handcuffs had quietly taken them off his belt and thrust them in his
pocket. They finished their tea and looked up uneasily. Iqbal sat sullenly staring

over their heads with an intensity charged with importance. He glared vacantly
into space, occasionally taking a spinsterish sip of his tea. When he had finished,
he stood up abruptly.

‘I am ready,’ he announced, dramatically holding out his hands. ‘Put on the
handcuffs.’
‘There is no need for handcuffs, Babuji,’ answered one of the constables.

‘You had better cover your face or you will be recognized at the identification
parade.’
Iqbal pounced on the opportunity. ‘Is this how you do your duty? If the rule is

that I have to be handcuffed, then handcuffed I shall be. I am not afraid of being
recognized. I am not a thief or a dacoit. I am a political worker. I will go through
the village as I am so that people can see what the police do to people they do

not like.’
This outburst was too much for one of the constables. He spoke sharply:
‘Babuji, we are being polite to you. We keep saying “ji”, “ji” to you all the

time, but you want to sit on our heads. We have told you a hundred times we are
doing our duty, but you insist on believing that we have a personal grudge.’ He
turned to his colleague. ‘Put the handcuffs on the fellow. He can do what he

likes with his face. If I had a face like his, I would want to hide it. We will report
that he refused to cover it.’
Iqbal did not have a ready answer to the sarcasm. He had a Semitic

consciousness of his hooked nose. Quite involuntarily he brushed it with the
back of his hand. Reference to his physical appearance always put him off. The
handcuffs were fastened round his wrists and chained onto the policeman’s belt.

‘Sat Sri Akal, Bhaiji. I will be back soon.’
‘Sat Sri Akal, Iqbal Singhji, and may the Guru protect you. Sat Sri Akal,
Sentryji.’

‘Sat Sri Akal.’
The party marched out of the temple courtyard, leaving Meet Singh standing

with the kettle of tea in his hand.

At the time the two constables were sent to arrest Iqbal, a posse of ten men was
sent to arrest Juggut Singh. Policemen surrounded his house at all points.