A Division Of The Spoils (Raj Quartet 4) (69 page)

‘Well tell me, Ahmed, how
you
found things with Sayed?’

‘He looked very fit and cheerful, I thought. He says he’s treated pretty well.’

‘I know. I know. Did he say anything you feel you should tell me?’

‘We talked about hawking mostly. We weren’t alone. One of the subalterns sat in the room.’

‘But why was this?’

‘Major Merrick said his instructions were that only you could be alone with him. But he made the subaltern sit where he couldn’t hear easily. It didn’t matter really. It was amusing if anything.’

‘He is now Colonel Merrick. Didn’t you notice? Also he is either equally unobservant or deceitful. He told me Sayed was not among those he’d classify as unrepentantly proud of what he has done. It wasn’t my impression. Was it yours?’

‘I’d no impression either way. We didn’t talk about that kind of thing.’

‘Just about hawking?’

‘No, but mostly about me. I’m afraid I couldn’t think what to ask him about himself. One day must seem to him much like another, after all.’

‘What things about you, other than hawking?’

‘Oh, personal things.’ Ahmed grinned. ‘He said Merrick
saw me drinking whisky in Bombay. He said I should stop that.’

And, Kasim thought, they had probably talked about their mother’s illness and death, the temporary burial at Nanoora that would have to be gone through again so that she could rest finally in the Kasim tomb in Ranpur.

‘He said nothing about Jinnah, then?’

‘Oh, yes. He said he thought Nita was becoming very pro-Jinnah.’

‘Only that?’

‘Well he said Nita was probably pro-Jinnah because Guzzy was, and that wives usually follow their husbands in such things.’

The steward knocked, slid back the door and brought in tea.

‘You’ll change your mind, Ahmed?’

‘No, I haven’t time. I must go in a minute.’

‘Then bring it later,’ Kasim told the steward. The steward went. ‘Sayed did not ask you your own view of Jinnah?’

‘No.’

‘He did not tell you he had strongly recommended me to go over? And that he had undertaken to find out your own feelings?’

‘No. Nothing like that at all.’

‘Obviously he had begun to when he mentioned Nita. Were you interrupted soon after?’

‘Yes, they came and said time was up. We’d had our ten minutes or whatever it was.’

‘That’s all they allowed? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he attempted to do what he said he’d do. So let me settle the question – what your feelings would be if I went over to the League. The League is very strongly placed. In the last few years while most of the Congress was in prison they have paved the way to divide the country. In the elections they are likely to win most of the seats reserved for Muslims. Even my own is not safe. If I offered myself to the League Jinnah would welcome me. I might even get a portfolio in whatever central government he’s able to set up in whatever kind of Pakistan he is able to wrest out of us. To make sure of a portfolio I could also do what perhaps a father should. Publicly defend my son against charges of treason. I put it to you in these crude terms
because for once, Ahmed, for once I am asking you to tell me what your honest opinion would be if I did these things. You said a moment ago that women always followed their husbands in such matters. Your mother always followed me. It was not easy for her eventually because her own family became very Pakistan conscious and very Jinnah conscious, just as Nita and Guzzy have become. What I am asking you is whether you and Sayed and Nita and your mother were thinking that I was wrong all the time, and that you were all conforming and saying nothing out of family loyalty. Whether it is your view that now I should in turn conform for everybody’s sake, including my own.’

Beneath them the coach wheels clanked. The coach had been coupled to a shunting engine.

‘I’ve got no view, father,’ Ahmed said, getting up. ‘You know I don’t understand all these ins and outs. They don’t seem to me to have anything to do with ordinary problems, though I suppose they must. But however many solutions are found people are still always dying of starvation. All that kind of thing. Or if they aren’t dying of starvation they’re killing one another senselessly. It all means nothing to me, parties and such-like.’

Kasim got up too.

‘Then it means you don’t care either way? That is one question out of the way at least. I shan’t have to consider your feelings, or rather shan’t have to feel conscience-stricken about you as well as Sayed. That is a relief. You see I made my mind up long ago what I would have to do. I have only been waiting for the moment when I was forced to take action. Let me just say this to you, Ahmed, that whatever your answer had been, my mind would not have been altered. But one likes to know where one stands with one’s own family. To me Sayed is a man whose actions remain indefensible because he broke his word, he broke his contract. It follows that I cannot break mine. Never in my life shall I go over to Jinnah. I did not say so to Sayed because I felt he did not deserve an answer either way –’

The train shoved forward a yard or two and stopped abruptly. They avoided being thrown together by reaching for different handholds to steady themselves.

‘So that is the position,’ he said, righting himself. ‘You, I think, deserve to know. You had better go now, if you’re not coming to Ranpur.’

He slid the door open and led the way down the deserted corridor. The train, after the clanking and jerking was unnaturally still; as if it had died. The carpet muffled the sound of footsteps. When he turned round, near the exit, it was almost a shock to find Ahmed so close behind him.

Formally he embraced him.

‘Do not hang around too long in that garage. Find yourself some coffee or something.’

‘Yes, father, I’ll do that.’

‘And something stronger, no doubt, I expect you have your flask.’ He could smell the whisky behind the scent of garlic on his son’s breath. He let the boy go, then stopped him.

‘What I have said about Sayed, please never repeat. It might make things worse for him. The other thing, about Jinnah, is in confidence. It will become public knowledge soon, though. Since you profess political detachment I can’t expect you to approve or disapprove, but I’m sorry if I’ve spoken roughly. I haven’t meant to upset you.’

Again the train jerked and this time began moving slowly forward. Ahmed grasped one handrail and began to get down. ‘Why should I be upset?’ he asked. ‘I’ve won my bet with Dmitri. He bet me you’d go over to Jinnah. I bet him you wouldn’t.’ The shunting engine’s whistle pierced. He raised his voice. ‘He wouldn’t offer stakes, though. We both expected me to win really.’

Ahmed jumped and ran for several paces to maintain momentum.

‘Ahmed!’ Kasim cried, wanting him back.

‘Mind yourself! Shut the door!’ Ahmed shouted, coming to a halt in the cinder-yard.

‘Ahmed! What do you mean? Expected, or wanted? Ahmed!’

But the cinder-yard had got up speed, taking Ahmed with it, taking him out of earshot, revealing more of its detail in the shape of coal bunkers and go-downs, the sudden glare of an arc-lamp, and then a suffocating smoky darkness which drove him in, back almost into Booby Sahib’s arms.

‘Minister, what are you doing? Why is the door open? Why isn’t someone here looking after things in a proper way? It is getting so that no one can be relied on to look after you at all.’

‘No, Booby,’ he said, placing a hand on the fat pudgy shoulder. ‘I am well looked after.’

They paused in the ante-room while the
aide
who had called for him and Booby with a car at the Kandipat road knocked at the door, opened it, and then with a slight bow indicated that Kasim should go in and that Booby Sahib should stay where he was.

When Kasim entered, the Governor was half-way across the long high-ceilinged room. He had on what looked like the same crumpled chalk-striped suit he’d worn on the day of the laying of the Chakravarti foundation-stone. He carried his spectacles in his left hand; the right was being offered.

‘Mr Kasim. Prompt as usual. How are you?’

‘Very well, thank you, Governor-ji. But this time the promptness is due chiefly to your Captain Thackeray who brought the car on time.’

‘The car didn’t embarrass you? I’m told your house has been pretty well besieged all day.’

‘Chiefly by well-wishers, fortunately.’

‘Good. I thought we’d sit here. The fire’s not really on. Just the imaginary coal bit. Say if you’re cold.’

Without Malcolm having done anything visible to command it, the Government House magic worked, in the shape of doors opening and servants bringing in tea. There were five of them. Malcolm ignored them. They simply operated.

‘How is Lady Malcolm, Governor? I hope better?’

‘Somewhat better, thank you.’

‘Not as good as you hoped?’

‘No. I’m trying to get her to go home to see a particular chap. It’s just a question of finding a way of persuading her to leave Ootacamund. Then we’ll see.’

They were now surrounded by an English-Indian tea. Kasim could smell the curry-puffs without even looking for them.
The servants vanished as smoothly as they had appeared. When the last one had gone, Kasim said:

‘I shall not be contesting the elections.’

‘Yes, I see.’ Only the voice betrayed disappointment. The face remained calm.

‘I shall recommend to my colleagues in the Congress Party that a man called Fazal Huq Rahman should stand in my old constituency. He is still very anti-Jinnah very competent, and in my opinion stands the best chance of holding this Muslim seat for Congress, although undoubtedly my old sparring partner Nawaz Shah will leap at the opportunity to pass his own seat on to someone else and contest mine on behalf of the League.’

They sipped the tea which the servants had poured.

‘Nawaz Shah?’

‘Abdul Nawaz Shah. Not to be confused with Shah Nawaz Khan.’

The Governor smiled. He said, ‘I wasn’t Governor at the time, but I seem to remember you wanted Abdul Nawaz Shah in your nineteen thirty-seven Ministry.’

‘He is an able and dedicated man and in nineteen thirty-seven there were constitutional grounds for forming a coalition, as well as reasonable hopes of satisfying the League that our policies were not after all anti-Muslim. Now of course such hopes are very slender.’

‘Yes. I’m afraid they are.’ Malcolm put his cup down. ‘All this means that you’re also not going to align yourself with the defence of the
INA
?’

‘Yes. It means that.’

‘Does it help if I point out that elections in this province won’t take place until some time in the New Year? By which time the subject of the
INA
might not be so delicate?’

‘Not really, Governor. The election
campaigns
will begin almost at once. It is clear that the subject of the
INA
will be taken up strongly by both major parties and just as clear that unless I align myself with the defence of
INA
personnel I should lose an important Muslim seat for Congress. The electorate would say, Who is this man who won’t defend even his own son?’

‘But my dear Mr Kasim, no one would blame you for defending your son, for defending the
INA.
I least of all.’

‘I have imagined you would not. It is what you were delicately hinting when we had lunch a couple of weeks ago. On earlier occasions I detected from Government rather less delicate hints that it was hoped I might lead an attack on these fellows.’

‘Is it your intention to lead an attack?’

‘No. I do not have a suicidal turn of mind.’

‘Well that’s one good piece of news at least. On the other hand, if you don’t publicly defend the
INA
and your son, how can you survive, politically?’

‘I do not know whether I can survive. But I am an old enough professional to know that when you do not know how, you bide your time. I will do nothing to help nourish this idea that the
INA
are heroes. Eventually other people may agree with me. A free and independent India may not want to employ such officers. But personally I should not like to feel that at one time I defended them, and then refused to employ them. So for me it is simply a question of refusing now. Many of them had perhaps understandable and excusable reasons. But how can you judge which man had what reason? Let into your army one man of the suspect kind I have in mind and you plant the seed of a military dictatorship, you nurture a man who will throw away his commission again and challenge and even overthrow a properly constituted civil authority. I do not want a government of generals. I do not want to see such an India. I do not believe there will be such an India. But too much adulation of
INA
seems to me the best way of getting such an India. So, for the moment, I must be what you call
hors de combat
because I am out of rhythm with my country’s temporary emotional feelings, and the country’s temporary emotional feelings are out of rhythm with my own. I should be, as you also say, rusticated, for everybody’s sake. So, Kasim, I tell myself. Go and cultivate your garden for a while.’ He smiled. ‘At Premanagar I had plenty of practice.’

Malcolm smiled too. He said, ‘Not everyone has the taste for martyrdom, Mr Kasim. It rather surprises me to sense it in you.’

‘Martyrdom? Oh, no, you’ve got me all wrong! A martyr is
the last thing I’m cut out for. I am a very practical man, even a pragmatist. The equal of any Englishman in that respect. But I have trained myself to take the long view also and taking the long view has taught me that you have to live for ever with a single moment of short-sightedness.’

‘Well let’s not say martyrdom. Just let’s say you’re putting a very high price on your conscience, your moral sense. Does it follow you’ve put a low one on the ultimate good of this province?’

‘Governor, you know that this is a Congress majority province. Whoever you invite to form a government will be a Congressman. The price I exact for my moral sense is one Muslim seat, one minority seat in the assembly. So. My temporary rustication is bought very cheaply. I could not possibly win it in all the circumstances.’