Page 59 - Train to Pakistan

Hukum Chand stopped rubbing his chin. He detected the attempt to pass off
the second arrest onto him.
‘Who is he?’
The inspector shouted to the head constable outside.

‘What is the name of the fellow you arrested at the Sikh temple?’
‘Iqbal.’

‘Iqbal what?’ questioned the magistrate loudly.
‘I will just find out, sir.’ The head constable ran across to the servants’
quarters before the magistrate could let fly at him. Hukum Chand felt his temper
rising. He took a sip out of his glass. The subinspector shuffled uneasily. The

head constable came back a few minutes later and coughed to announce his
return.

‘Sir,’ he coughed again. ‘Sir, he can read and write. He is educated.’
The magistrate turned to the door angrily.
‘Has he a father and mother, a faith, or not? Educated!’

‘Sir,’ faltered the head constable, ‘he refuses to tell us his father’s name and
says he has no religion. He says he will speak to you himself.’
‘Go and find out,’ roared the magistrate. ‘Whip him on his buttocks till he

talks. Go … no, wait, the Subinspector Sahib will handle this.’
Hukum Chand was in a rage. He gulped down the fizzing water in the tumbler
and mopped his head with the shaving towel. A belch relieved him of his

mounting wrath.
‘Nice fellows, you and your policemen! You go and arrest people without
finding out their names, parentage or caste. You make me sign blank warrants of

arrest. Some day you will arrest the Governor and say Hukum Chand ordered
you to do so. You will have me dismissed.’
‘Cherisher of the poor, I will go and look into this. This man came to Mano

Majra yesterday. I will find out his antecedents and business.’
‘Well, then, go and find out, and do not just stand and stare,’ barked Hukum
Chand. He was not in the habit of losing his temper or of being rude. After the

subinspector had left, he examined his tongue in the mirror and put another
tablet of seltzer in the tumbler.
The subinspector went out and stopped on the veranda to take a few deep

breaths. The magistrate’s wrath decided his attitude. He would have to take a
strong line and finish the shilly-shallying. He went to the servants’ quarters.
Iqbal and his escort stood apart from Juggut Singh’s crowd. The young man had