Hey everyone this is Kunjal here!! Now you must be wondering looking at the illustration above, what is the post upto?
State elections in India are around the corner.( Even if they aren’t, preparations are on full bloom. It feels they are.)
Uhem so let us begin. I have often been attracted by the manifestation of riots and some sorrowful events around elections. Though I do wish to convey my regards to the families ( especially in villages) which are rendered apart due to the fatalities that get emerged, I have started to visualise ( although it may be a misconception )such riots as “planned” or “schemed” which may have some connection to elections. Some connection to votes. Vote b.. Oh I must stop here.
But bounce to my previous sentence ‘riots around elections’.
Does that make any sense?
I have tried to give it some sense:
VOTING~ A SHORT STORY
‘ How are you coping up?’
‘Sahab, the produce is not going well. We have a huge debt on our heads. If only Divu gets some job in the city. But he is also struggling’, said the farmer Raju, his head glistening with sweat.
‘ You know what is happening these days?’, the man raised his eyes from his hands and asked.
A red gemstone on the little finger, and a fat golden ring, adorning a little ‘Om’ was stuck in the middle finger.
‘ Sir election sir.’ Raju, replied smiling sheepishly and continued’ Sir that is why-‘
‘Enough’
Raju possessively wrapped his gamcha around his shoulder. Thin brown shoulders. They were too glistening with mild sweat.
The man sensed. He recoiled back into a smile ‘Come, Sit’. Raju walked hesitantly. In a hesitant manner, he turned the plush chair. He patted hesitantly on the air filled blue material and took a seat. It was a chair with wheels. But there was something wrong. One of the wheels was protruding inwards and not moving.
Raju had to wrest his hand to the table for balance, as he listened.
‘You want money, I see. Poor farmers… Who will do for them but us?
Two black men with squared shoulders entered the office from behind. Passing the potted plant, whose leaves were almost fluttering dry under the slow fan, they walked forward to stand at either side of their boss.
One of them carried a black suitcase. Raju looked at it with interest, remembering something. ‘Which movie was it?… he thought..
‘ Our party is losing badly’, the man started and Raju looked forward.
‘Raju, the other party. You know its ills. Here Let me tell you. Wherever this party is in power your brother farmers are in bad shape… ‘
‘Sir here farmers are in bad shape-
‘But we will do something, the man piqued a loud tone ‘At least we won’t be licking off the foot of big businesses like this party does.‘
.
‘All the time. For a long time farmers had been central to policy making. Is agriculture central now?’
To Raju ‘s amazement, the man kicked his chappal while saying. He also strode his hand upward and reached for his handkerchief from his shirt. He looked away twisting his handkerchief around his first finger.
Raju ‘s attention became full-fledged at the sight.
But what had he come here for?
‘We will make it central! We will help you all! The man stopped.
‘For that?’, he resumed in a low voice.
‘For that?’ Raju repeated smearing sweat from his forehead, looking around.
‘For that we need to win this election. Which we are, it seems to me badly losing.’
‘But sir, why did you call me in here? ‘
‘Because everybody listens to you in the village!’,
‘Aand because’ the man reached for the suitcase which had piqued Raju’s interest and passed it across the table. It opened with a click.
Raju looked delighted and astonished at the same time.
‘For this you will have to do something right? The man retorted and laughed as if Raju had kidded ‘ A fit bargain. Just like your fit banyan!’ Now Raju understood. His confusion was replaced with full understanding.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Raju, looked at the melee. All his men were carrying lathis. Raju remembered what the sir had said ‘they will fight with lathis. Procure more men’.
Some workers of the other party, though, were carrying guns. It was becoming bloody. More and more farmers were dying.
Raju dropped down to remove the blood that had gathered around his nostrils. There were more shouts from behind. He turned and marched forward with his lathi, remembering what the man had said
‘All must be dead. Otherwise no money’
Raju approached a man wearing a blue shirt. He charged his lathi on him. the man did not have a gun like his comrades and fell down with a loud crunch. Raju approached ahead.
But in vain, had Raju swung his lathi to injure that man, in vain he had decided he could kill some more.
In vain, he had tried this much.
Three shots fired in the air. Before he could reach another villager, Raju fell down with a crunch. His fit banyan was now covered with dry red blood. More oozes of blood ruptured out of the wound in his back.
He groaned.
Many farmers were dead and many workers of the rival party were severely injured
‘ Your family would be given money’, The man had said and Raju who had fallen down, ‘s eyes seemed to flutter with the little greed that they could afford.
He closed his eyes. 20 villagers were dead.
20 VILLAGERS KILLED- *ABCD* ALLEGES ‘IT WAS PLANNED’
Two days later..
Suresh walked through the mourning crowd. He entered the hut of a woman who had lost his husband in the violent clash.
‘ Now it has been clearly proved through CCTV cameras who was responsible, you don’t need to worry.’, Suresh said aloud and sat down and said to the lady who was crying.
He asked again ‘what was your husband’s name?’
The lady sobbed uncontrollably in the dupatta of her saree. She was unable to turn her head up.
‘ Mahesh. Her husband’ s name was Mahesh’, another woman replied, consoling the wife in her arms. Her face too was in tears.
‘And your man’s?’
‘Sir his name was Raju’
Suresh ‘s eyes glistened with recognition.
‘ We will fight for the justice of Raju and other farmers once we come to power.’, Suresh replied after coming out to the reporters.
‘ Ayhe Ayhe! our party if in power, will fight for the upliftment of farmers!’, other members of the party echoed ,a tone in front of the reporters.
‘ Did we see something off here?’
~Kunjal.G
Duo Diseminators 