A cry went round the bus – “Poor fellow!”
Passengers saw the boy had fainted.
The bus stopped and carried the boy out.
One among the passengers rubbed the soles of his feet, another massaged his hands, a third held his head on his lap, while a fourth fanned him with a cardboard. Someone fetched water and sprinkled on his face. That all attention made the boy in regaining consciousness and he sat up slowly. The crowd of passengers was well pleased.
One of them enquired from the boy, “What happened?”
Another asked,”Is this the first time you have fainted or you suffer from it frequently?”
A third was telling his fellow passengers, “The bus was really overcrowded. The poor fellow must have suffocated; this pushing and jostling is enough to make even a robust fellow faint.”
Close to him, another asked the boy, “You don’t suffer from epilepsy, God forbid?”
Tears welled up from the boy’s eyes and he pouted, his lower lip thrust far out. Exposing his inner coat pocket to the crowd, he said, “My pocket, sirs, has been picked.”
Astonished, passengers began to examine the pocket. The coat was pulled in all directions by solicitous people, so was soon turned into shreds.
One, drawing a conclusion after his examination, pronounced, “This pocket, my dear sirs, has been slit with a pair of scissors.”
Another immediately disagreed, “No, sir, it is clearly the work of a blade.”
“Better listen to me, sir, scissors, no doubt about it.” The man added sarcastically, “Pray where are the frayed edges a blade would have left?”
“Not necessary at all,” the other insisted. “This cut, begging your pardon, is in a straight line, and that can only be achieved with a blade. Had it been scissors my dear sir, there would have been a certain amount of curvature in it, which I am afraid, there is not.”
Not to be silenced by this, the first man persisted in his view of the matter. By this time both the opponents had gathered a sizeable number of supporters for their different theories. And now both the sides advanced reasons and arguments in support of their stance and a fierce debate ensued, with the passengers divided into two camps: Scissors versus Blade.
In the midst of the argument, the Scissors-man raised his voice, “You are so uncouth. Your belligerence is no proof of the soundness of your argument.”
As a result, the Blade-man lost his temper and shouted, “You have no manners at all. After all, what can one expect from someone with such lowly origins as you!”
The debate grew more heated, arguments multiplied, the issue snow-balled into a full-blown quarrel. The quarrel did not remain confined to the protagonists alone but drew both the camps into it.
Eventually the Scissors-camp formed a committee, while the Blade-camp quickly constituted a party. Both the parties held their separate meeting. Allegations were hurled freely and motives attributed.
The Blade-man referred to the Scissor-party thus: “These are the people who have always betrayed the nation. They filled their own coffers, fattened themselves and strangled the common man. We demand accountability, we ask for an account of all their doings. And bear this thing in mind that if anything is done to tamper with the sanctity of Article 370, rivers of blood will flow. We categorically state, we will never allow it!”
The crowd applauded in full agreement and the Blade-man went on and on.
Not to be outdone, the Scissor-man was expressing similar sentiments in a lecture to his supporters.
While this was going on, emotions were roused and a fight broke out between the two groups.
Stones were hurled and several people were hurt, some of them seriously. The police came, burst tear-gas shells and made a lathe-charge (baton charge).
Now the road was clear of people. There was total silence all around, the bus far in the distance. But the boy was arrested on the charge to be guilty and having started a riot.
Nazir Jahangir is a freelance writer
