Who is she, Part 39

Part 39

“Oh, Khalida,Khalida, what has happened to you, what have these devils done to you, oh, why did you go out at all, it is all my fault, yes it’s my fault, I should have stopped you, God, Oh God, why didn’t I stop You! My love for Bittuji had  blinded me, get up Khalid, get up, Bittuji do something” Amma was weeping and speaking at the same time. She was kneeling down in front of Khalid and trying her best to lift his wounded head off the floor but her arms seemed to have lost all strength.

Khalid was groaning and moaning with pain and muttering something unintelligible. He could hardly open his eyes; he was in a semi conscious state. The bleeding had not stopped. I swung into action. I took hold of both his arms and somehow managed to make him stand on his tottering legs. I put my right arm around his shoulder and his left arm around mine and slowly made him climb the few stairs up to the verandah. Khalid was a heavily built man and since he was unable to use his own strength, I was carrying nearly all his weight. We reached the top of the verandah and from there, slowly but surely, I took him straight to the living room. I helped him lie down and then decided to have a close look at him.

His face had started swelling; there was swelling around his eyes. There were deep cuts and bruises on his face; it seemed somebody had cut him up with a sharp instrument, possibly a knife. He seemed to have been punched in the nose as well; his whole face was a mass of blood. It made a frightening sight. I had never seen anything like this before, not in real life. I was reminded of the movies where they showed the condition of people who had been tortured. I knew, Khalid had been subjected to torture of the worst kind. I knew Babuji kept a well stocked first aid kit in the house, I asked Amma about it and she told me it was in her room. Tears were still flowing down her cheeks but I had no time to console her. I rushed upstairs, found the box and ran down the stairs. It was important to wash the wounds and try to stop the bleeding. I went into the kitchen, boiled some water and put it into the first bowl that my eyes fell on.

I added a few drops of Dettol to the water, took a swab of cotton and very carefully started washing Khalid’s face. Each time I touched his face, a cry of pain escaped his lips. I had never dressed up any one’s wounds before but I had seen others doing it so I was just following my instincts and whatever little I had seen for myself. Finally, I finished washing up his whole face. The water in the bowl had become completely red; the very sight of so much blood was repulsive. I had another look at Khalid’s face, it looked cleaner but it was in a complete mess. Blood continued to ooze out of some of the wounds and I kept on wiping it. He needed a doctor, he needed to be taken to a hospital, he needed medical attention but unfortunately all he had was an ignorant fool like me who had absolutely no idea about how to go about treating such people. He was still groaning with pain, I took out a painkiller from the box, and made him swallow it with great difficulty.

Amma was watching me and sobbing silently. She had stopped saying anything. She kept on staring at Khalid as if willing him to get up and serve us tea. The terrible and shocking entry of Khalid had coincided with our evening tea time and I had been waiting for my mouth watering katlams. Another wave of guilt swept over me. I was looking at Khalid’s face and the swelling was growing. His face had become nearly double his normal size. Dear old Khalid, who had never hurt anybody in his life, who had always taken care of others, who had immense love for all, had been  treated like an animal and only brutish beasts could have acted so cruelly.

My God, we had forgotten all about Babuji! He had left in search of Khalid at about five thirty; the time was nearing seven thirty that was almost two hours. Moza’s house, the place where he had said he was going, was only ten minutes walk from our house, what had taken him such a long time? He had said that the major, in charge of the Karan Nagar headquarters of the Indian army was known to him, therefore we need not worry, then what was it that had held him up? Amma was too involved with Khalid’s painful plight that the thought of Babuji had not entered her mind as yet but soon she would start asking questions, questions which I doubt I would have an answer to! Khalid started groaning again, he opened his eyes and for the first time there was a look of recognition in his eyes. He looked at me and then his eyes shifted a little and fell on Amma.

“Where is Babuji?” It was with great effort that he managed to utter these three words, the pain in his voice was palpable.

“He is in the other room; he was here a moment ago. Khalid, who did this to you? Who were the ones who attacked you?”

“They were the same army people, who hit you in the morning, Bittuji. And there were many others.”

“Why? They knew who you were then why did they do this to you?” Tears started flowing down his blood soaked face. I realized the memories of what he had been through were hurting him more than his wounds. He remained silent for a while; it was obvious he was trying to regain some strength in order to speak. So far we had only seen the wounds on his face, we had no idea which other parts of his body had been damaged! I had read in novels and seen in movies that the police beat up victims in such an expert manner that the wounds could not be seen. The same seemed to be the case with him.

“I had reached the rear door of the baker’s shop and was about to enter, when strong hands held me from behind. I tried to cry out but two people came from the front, one of them put his hand over my mouth and the other put a cloth over my face. I felt a strong blow on my head and after that there was darkness all around”. Every word that he spoke required immense effort on his part. He was in terrible pain and I thought it was better not ask him any more questions, at least, not for the time being.

I glanced at my watch; it was nearing eight and still no sign of Babuji. Where could he be? Had the army captured him but that was impossible, they knew him, he was a Kashmiri Pundit and from what I had gathered so far, the security forces did not harm Hindus, their targets were only Muslims. The captain, who had come in the morning to arrest Khalid, had been very respectful towards Babuji. Why would the army want to harm him?

“Bittuji, Babuji has not come back yet, what has taken him so long? It is already dark; he always makes it a point to return home before nightfall, he would do that even during normal times. I am worried, son, where can he be?”

“He must be chatting away with the major, Amma, didn’t he say the major was a good friend of his? Maybe, they must be having a drink together.” I said, trying to sound as jovial as I could.

“What nonsense? Don’t you know he doesn’t touch liquor at all? He hasn’t had a drop all his life and you are trying to tell me he must be drinking with these devils when he cannot even dream of drinking with the angels?” This was true. Babuji had never had alcohol in his life and there was no way he would start now.

“Babuji was there, I heard his voice” Khalid spoke in a whisper.

“Where did you hear his voice?”

“The place where they had taken me to, probably it must have been the Mozas’ house, I don’t really remember” .Khalid was in pain but he was determined to tell us whatever he knew.

“The army wallas were beating me up when someone came and asked them to stop. They must have been afraid that Babuji would hear my cries of intolerable pain. I had been tied to a chair so I could not get up. I would have shouted out Babuji’s name but they immediately shut my mouth up by stuffing it witha huge bundle of cloth”. Goodness me, I had seen such scenes in many movies but never imagined such things could happen in real life also! Was Khalid speaking the truth or was he also recalling scenes of some movie he had seen? I remembered he was very fond of movies, particularly action movies. How mean of me to think Khalid was imagining all these things when I was pretty sure that every word that he had said was the truth and nothing but the truth.

“Are you sure it was Babuji’s voice?” I asked, although I knew the answer.

“Don’t I recognize my own Babuji’s voice, how can you doubt me?” He had been hurt by my question, so hurt that he found the strength to lift up his head from the pillow which must have caused his battered body a lot of pain.

“Khalid, I do not doubt you at all, after all who knows Babuji better than you do?” I said in a conciliatory tone. “Tell us what you heard.”

“Babuji asked the Major about me but the major said he had no idea. Then he asked one of his men whether anyone of them had seen me and he replied in the negative. Khalid carried on with his narrative.

“Where could he have gone then?” Babuji asked the major.

“No need to worry about him Mr. Rajnath, he must have gone to see some of his friends, he has many, you know. I wanted to tell you one thing, why are you letting these people live in your house, they are traitors you know?”

“Traitors, my foot, Khalid is a part of my family and you have no business to tell me anything against him” .I could imagine how angry Babuji must have been!

“I also notice a lot of Muslims coming to your house every day, they are all on our list of suspects, you know”. Khalid was trying to recollect every word that he had heard, it was taking a lot out of him and I asked him to stop, although I wanted to know more. He continued, nevertheless. Babuji had again lost his temper. The major tried to pacify him and asked him to join him for a cup of tea. After this, Khalid did not hear anything. Obviously, the major had taken Babuji to some other room from where Khalid was not able to hear anything else.

Was it possible for the army to stoop so low and accuse Babuji of giving shelter to so called traitors? Whatever little I had seen of the Indian Army in Kashmir, I knew they were capable of anything. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the door, hoping, against hope,to see Babuji enter at any moment!