Mamta Kalia

I have been in this job for a number
of years now, this was common courtesy.
—‘Namaskar is all right, but what is
this that you are doing?’
—‘What sir?’ I asked, suppressing my
anger.
—‘Yaar, you have put our own men
behind the bars!... Ring up SHO Sadar
immediately and tell him to release all
those arrested in the Jamalpur case,
immediately.’ The commanding and decisive
voice disturbed me.
—‘But sir, it is a case of murder. They
killed a young woman who had come from
somewhere in Assam.’ I repeated verbatim
what the SHO had told me in the day.
—‘It was no murder. The woman had
constipation. She drank Jamalghota, the
bitch must have taken an overdose. She
died. Who is to blame for this? Tell me!’
The slurred voice smacked largely of anger
and alcohol.
—‘Sir, the post mortem report mentions
pregnancy and poisoning…’ I wanted to
give the honourable minister some
information but he interrupted me. ‘Fuck
the post mortem report. Ring up the SHO
immediately and tell him to set free all
those arrested in this case at once. They
are our party workers. How can they be
criminals? You catch hold of any respectable
man and make a snake out of a rope…Your
SHO is asking for five times of what those
men had bought the woman for…Next week
I will come and teach the bastard a lesson.’
As soon as there seemed to be a pause
in the angry outburst of the honourable
minister I said, ‘Sir, I will certainly take
action against corrupt officers, but how
can one release criminals arrested on a
charge of murder…’ my words prompted
the minister to fire his missile.
—‘Leave law-shaw, Mister Barua. Do
what I tell you. Tomorrow I am in Haryana
Bhavan, Delhi till the afternoon. Report
to me here, after releasing my party
workers.’
—‘…....’ I kept quiet.
—‘Is that all right?’ The pressure was
on again.
—‘Sir, I will be able to take a decision
only after I get to know the details of
the case. If everyone is let off like this,
the law…’ I could manage to utter only
one and a half sentences to save myself
when I heard the roar.
—‘Are you the only law abiding SP
in Haryana? I am going to send your
transfer orders immediately from
Chandigarh. Pack your bags to leave for
Madhuban Training Centre at once.’ The
receiver was slammed down. This was how
a stupid phone call disturbed my sleep.
The Diary of that Night
I could not go to sleep. I thought
I would make entries in my diary. It would
have been good if I could have got some
sleep. Would have got up feeling fresh.
It had been decided that I would take
my son for his admission to school the
next day. I had already spoken to the
principal about it, there was no problem
regarding admission, but all the formalities
would have to be completed….now if this
uncivilized minister were to send my
transfer orders…what then? This sort of
uncertainty always troubled officers like
me…When I was a student and lived in
a hostel of Delhi University, I had a romantic
April-June 2010 :: 107