Thirty-Fourth Gate PDF

# Thirty-fourth Gate ## Nasim Kharal ### Translated by: Asif Farrukhi and Shah Mohammed Pirzada At the hour of the dawn, as he was going to measure the water-level, he suddenly caught sight of a dead body caught in the gate of the barrage. The head had been hacked and was barely connected to the...

# Thirty-fourth Gate ## Nasim Kharal ### Translated by: Asif Farrukhi and Shah Mohammed Pirzada At the hour of the dawn, as he was going to measure the water-level, he suddenly caught sight of a dead body caught in the gate of the barrage. The head had been hacked and was barely connected to the rest of the body by a few shreds of skin. Seeing a dead body he became afraid and remained standing in silence with his hands seeking the support of the nearby wall. A little later, he overcame his initial fear and made an attempt to get a closer look at the dead body. It was the body of a woman wearing a red ghagra and her long hair had become undone after being immersed in the water and its fiery-brown color shone in the muddy water. His first feeling was to avoid getting into this mess and open the gates to let the dead body flow on. But his conscience pricked and made him think of the bigger court of the One who would not accept such things. He made up his mind that he would go to the police station himself and lodge a complaint and ask the Subedar to investigate the case himself so that the murderers could be punished. Having come to this decision, he went to his hut and began to lock the door. As he was bolting the door, it suddenly occurred to him that he should first go and report the matter to his immediate supervisor, the surveyor. He then went to the surveyor's home and knocked on the door. The surveyor had gone to Sukkur last night, seen a late night movie and roamed around the city all night and had come back to sleep in the last hours of the night. He could hardly be expected to respond to these timid knocks worth nothing. But he also did not let go of the door until the surveyor got up and, rubbing his eyes, came to the door. 'What’s up? Is there a breach in the dam?' 'No, Sain, there’s no breach. There is a dead body in the gateway.' 'Then why did you wake me up? Am I a policeman?' 'Sain, I am going to the police station. I came to inform you, as it might get late.’ 'Late? Even if you try to pull yourself away, it will be evening. Then they will make you come and be in attendance everyday.' 'Yes, Sain. Whatever comes from up there, one has to bear it.’ ‘Then go and bear it. But make sure that in your report my name does not come up as a witness.’ 'No, Sain. Your name will not be mentioned. I will tell them that I am coming straight to the police station after seeing the dead body.' 'All right. That’s what you should say.’ With this, the supervisor banged the door shut. He came back to the barrage and began walking towards Sukkur. He had covered some distance when he saw the headlights of a truck approaching from behind and he waved out his hand. These truck drivers never stop for anybody, but he thought of the distance to Sukkur and waved his hand. The driver must have been a good man because he stopped. His heart was filled with happiness and he was grateful to the truck driver who saved him from a long trek on foot. The stopping of the truck and being spared from trudging on foot was divine will working because God was happy with what he was doing. He got down from the truck just next to the gate of the police station and crossed the gate to enter the police station. A policeman stood there and he asked about the Subedar. 'Sahib has gone on an investigation of a case,' the policeman answered gruffly. ‘Jamadar, I must speak to the Subedar. Don’t say such things.’ 'Why, is it a complaint?' 'Yes, Sir. It is a complaint.' 'This is no time for complaints. Come after a few days. These are the last days of the year. We are having too many cases of robbery.’ ‘This is no robbery. It is murder!’ ‘So you have done a murder? Where is the weapon?’ ‘Weapons are for the Subedar to collect. Let me just speak to him.’ ‘If such petty things are left for the Subedar to do, then do you think I have made my whiskers go white in the sun?’ 'Hurry up, mister. I am a man with a family too and a government servant like you.’ ‘Oh, you may have flown down from the sky. You must tell me what has happened.’ ‘You are being obstinate. When I tell the Subedar, you can listen too.’ The policeman saw that this man was not going to budge so he took him to the living quarters of the Subedar. The Subedar had just got up and was having a cup of tea. The policeman gave him a salute and said, ‘Sain, this man has come with a complaint. The Subedar glared at him and asked angrily, ‘Then why have you brought him here, you idiot? Sain, I told him myself that the Sahib is busy investigating case number 224. But what he said left me no choice but to bring him here. He is a government servant himself. He says there is a murder.’ "Murder in the market? But I was on the rounds there last night." 'No, Sain. I don’t know about the place of the murder. He will tell you himself. Come on mister, come close and tell the Sahib everything. Don’t be afraid. If you tell him the truth it will be to your benefit,’ the policeman beckoned him. He stepped closer to the Subedar, who looked at him and asked, ‘Which department do you belong to?" 'Sain, I am the gauge-reader at Sukkur barrage.’ ‘All right, tell me the truth.’ ‘Sain, I went in to measure the water level at dawn which is my routine and I saw a dead body caught in the barrage gate. The neck is cut through and it is only connected to the rest of the body by a few shreds of skin.’ ‘Is it a man’s or a woman’s body?’ ‘A woman’s.’ ‘It must have been eaten by the fishes and be beyond recognition?’ ‘No, Sain. It is intact.’ ‘Hm. Was there anyone else around?’ ‘No, Sain. Nobody came to us.’ ‘Kora Khan, nobody turned up at the police station to claim the dead body?’ the Subedar asked his subordinate. ‘No, Sain. Nobody turned up here.’ The Subedar turned towards him again. ‘Yes, you. What time did you see the dead body?’ ‘Sain, it was the hour of the dawn.’ ‘Who else was there?’ ‘Nobody. I was all alone.’ ‘Then whom did you tell?’ ‘Nobody. I came straight to the police station.’ ‘Where do you live yourself?’ ‘Sain, I have been given a living quarter at the barrage.’ ‘Do you live alone or do you have a family?’ ‘Sain, all alone.’ ‘Of course, why wouldn’t you live all alone. You are the sort who like to have fun.’ ‘What fun, Sain?’ ‘Many smart young things come up to the riverbank at Lab-e-Mehran. You must have made eyes at one of them.’ ‘No, Sain, I keep away from such things.’ ‘If you keep away, then how was this murder committed and this body found?’ ‘Sain, I don’t understand.’ The gauge-reader broke out in cold sweat. ‘Yes, yes, of course you don’t understand now, but when the time comes you will sing like a bird.’ ‘Sain, you are being suspicious for no reason. If I had done anything like this, I would have let the dead body flow down through the gate. After all, who could have seen me?’ ‘Yes, that is right. It goes in your favor. This will be kept in mind. All right, now describe the dead body.’ ‘Sain, I did not go down to have a look because I was afraid. The woman had long black hair and she was wearing a red ghagra with bharat.’ ‘That’s it! That’s it!’ the Subedar announced. ‘Solved!’ ‘Solved how, Sain?’ ‘Somebody has for sure killed an adulterous woman and washed his hands off.’ The gauge-reader hadn’t understood, so he asked the Subedar: ‘Sain, who has washed his hands?’ ‘You are illiterate, you don’t understand such things. They do such things and if anybody so much as makes a passing comment, they feel as if they have been taunted and mocked, and are ready to slit anybody’s throat.’ The gauge-reader now understood and said to the Subedar, ‘Sain, which holy book allows such things?’ ‘Which law do the Balochis recognize? They think such deaths are justified.’ ‘But Sain, according to the law this is murder.’ ‘Yes, according to the law this is a clear case of 302 but who can make a complaint and who can be the accused? For such an adulterous woman, even her father and brother will not claim to be her heirs, and the other relatives are a far cry.’ ‘But Sain, if you start looking carefully, where can such murderers hide?’ ‘Yes, if we do a thorough investigation we can pull out hair from flour. I have such experience that even if a murderer is bathed in rose-water and made to stand among a hundred men, I can pull him out by his ears in a minute and tell him, this is where you should be standing, sonny boy!’ ‘Wonderful, Sain, wonderful! How do you manage that?’ ‘The smell of blood! Can the smell of blood ever leave a murderer?’ ‘Then you must do something, Sain!’ ‘But in this case, who am I to catch and how? Any Baloch I put my hand on will be smelling of blood!’ ‘But Sain, maybe the poor dead woman wasn’t adulterous. Maybe she happened to be passing this way, or maybe she had come to fill water at the river, and somebody forced her and later on killed her out of fear and threw her in the water.’ ‘Yes, that too can happen. But very little chance, like salt in flour.’ ‘Sain, once you begin the investigation everything will fall into place. The smell of musk and murder can never be hidden!’ ‘May God never give me such a case to investigate. This investigation will eat up the very foundations of the home!’ ‘Oh, what do you think, investigating unclaimed dead bodies is easy? First, you have to pay the fees for the body being dragged out, then the cost of the post-mortem, photographers and the rent of jeeps, burial of the dead body, the high officials and their million and one excuses, everyday they will ask for explanations. Mister, why didn’t you just open the doorway and let the dead body move on?’ ‘Sain, how could I do such a sin? After all, who knows what will please God and what will not? May he protect us from what is right and what is not!’ ‘Yes, but either you committed the sin or I did, why should both of us get these pushes and shoves? It’s no joke, this complaint of murder. You will have to bear so much of all this everyday that you will grow tired and leave.’ ‘Sain, I will put up with all this rather than do a foul deed. Please record my complaint.’ ‘Oh yes, there’s no getting rid of you. Your relatives must have fed you on she-donkey’s milk as a baby.’ ‘As you think, Sain.’ ‘Kora Khan, go and call the munshi so that we write down his complaint,’ the Subedar called out. The munshi came with a large sheet of paper, carbon paper and pencils and, sitting down on the reed-chair close to the Subedar, put the papers straight and, pencil in hand, looked expectantly at the Subedar. ‘Munshi, write down the complainant’s name. What is the name?’ ‘Sain, Ghulam Mohammed son of Noor Mohammed.’ ‘Munshi, write down: complainant Ghulam Mohammed, son of Noor Mohammed, gauge-reader, Sukkur barrage, case of 302, time of report early morning, six o’clock, time of complaint being written quarter past six, time of investigation immediate, without any delay from the police. Yes, where is the dead body stuck?’ ‘Sain, gate number thirty-four of the Sukkur barrage.’ ‘Munshi, listen. Just chetk, how far are the limits of our police station.’ The munshi scurried off and came back carrying a couple of registers and told the Subedar, ‘Sain, our police station has no limits!' ‘Wah Qalander! Now look, you go to the Rohri police station. No half measures here!’ the Subedar said with a smile. ‘Sain, what are you doing?’ ‘If you don’t believe me, then look in the register yourself.’ ‘But Sain, it is a matter of one gate!’ ‘But my dear fellow, even the difference of one door is a big thing. If it had been the difference of one grain of sand, then I would not have budged an inch. Why should I take on somebody else’s headache?’ ‘Please be kind, Sain.’ ‘Look at this madman. The way he is getting excited, she must have been somebody to him. What is your concern, mister?’ ‘Sain, what should I do?’ ‘You go to the Rohri police station and file the report there.’ ‘And if they do not take the report?’ ‘How can they not take the report? It is within their limits.’ The gauge-reader began his long march towards Rohri and reached the police station by noon. After waiting for a couple of hours, he finally managed to see the Subedar there and told him about the dead body of a murdered woman floating down the gate. ‘Where is the body stuck?’ ‘Sain, gate number thirty-four of Sukkur barrage.’ ‘Munshi senior, is this gate within our limits or Sukkur’s?’ ‘Ours,’ the senior munshi made a wry face. ‘What time did you see the dead body?’ ‘Sain, at the hour of the dawn.’ ‘Then where were you all this while? It is now noon.’ The gauge-reader was silent. ‘Come on, answer me. This delay will cost you dearly.’ The gauge-reader could control himself no longer. His own honour was dearer to him then the honour of somebody else. ‘Sain, there was no delay from my side. I went to the Sukkur police station immediately. But the Subedar made me sit for a long time then sent me off.’ ‘Why did he do that?’ ‘He said it is not within their limits.’ ‘His limit or mine, just as he is a government servant so am I. He got the first report of the murder. According to the law, he should have received the report and made a mushir-nama to forward the dead body for post-mortem. Then he should have forwarded the papers to me.’ ‘Yes, Sain. I pleaded with him but he did not budge.' 'What did he say?' 'Sain, he said, who should get involved in such an investigation which will eat away the very foundations of my household.' 'Yes, but if you eat the sweet stuff than you have to eat the not-so-sweet stuff also. If there were any sweets, he would have not even thought about limits and no limits.' ‘God knows, Sain.’ ‘Why should God know? Don’t you know about it too?’ The gauge-reader couldn’t reply. ‘All right.Now tell me how you knew that the body was in the thirty-fourth gate?’ ‘I saw it myself!’ ‘You were looking at the dead body or counting the gates?’ ‘Why did I have to count the gates? I know all of them by heart!’ ‘But you can still make a mistake.’ ‘No, Sain. I am not blind after all!’ ‘God knows- the dead body could have floated further on to get caught in any of the other gates?’ ‘God alone knows, but how can this be possible?’ ‘All right .Let’s investigate. Munshi, senior munshi...!’ ‘Yes Sain?’ The senior Munshi came forward and stood in front of the Subedar. ‘Yar, the complaint of a dead body without anybody to claim it is painful, but we cannot have this young man go on making unnecessary trips. You get ready to write down the complaint but in the meantime send one of your men down to make sure that the dead body is within our limits and that we don’t waste our time unnecessarily.’ ‘There is no need for this delay, Sain. The dead body is caught in that gate,’ the gauge-reader assured the Subedar. ‘Look here, let us make sure. Maybe the body has flowed with the river current and got caught in some other gate.’ ‘All right, Sain. Go ahead and satisfy yourself.’ ‘But don’t let anybody know. Stop the boatman from making a noise about it. Just go straight count the gates and come back quickly.’ ‘Yes Sain. Is that all?’ ‘Yes. Take this man with you. God knows if he’s had his bread to eat or not.’ ‘No Sain, I am not hungry.’ ‘Look, don’t be shy. Bread is from God. Senior Munshi, order my meal from the hotel and give it to him. After all he is good man. Nobody dares to get involved in somebody else’s murder. If only we had more of such brave people!’ ‘No doubt, Sain.This is the deed of brave men. Come on brother, get up and have your bread!’ The Subedar and senior munshi’s words of praise took away the gauge-reader’s fatigue. He was very angry with the Subedar at Sukkur who had made him get tired for nothing. He came into the munshi’s house, ate the food, and rested. When he stretched out, he was overcome with sleep. It was nearly evening when the Senior Munshi shook him by the legs and asked him to get up and see the Subedar. He went to the Subedar’s room and as soon as the Subedar saw him, he said: ‘Mister, the dead body is in the gate number thirty-three. That does not come within our limits.’ ‘How can that be, Sain? I myself saw it in the thirty-fourth gate.’ ‘Either you have forgotten or maybe it has floated down to another gate.’ ‘Sain, I am dead with all this running around!’ The gauge-reader was thinking of his having to run around, but he also remembered the problem of the Subedar at Sukkur. ‘How can I interfere in somebody else’s limits?’ ‘But, how can a dead body caught in one gateway move to another? My mind isn’t working.’ ‘You go home from the barrage side and keep counting the gates. If it turns out to be gate number thirty-four, then send me a message and I will come and investigate.’ The gauge-reader had to accept this and having done so, he began walking back to Sukkur. Instead of taking the straight road, he turned towards the barrage, and he made a firm decision that this time he would take a closer look at the dead body, and only then he will go to the Subedar in Sukkur. He walked to gateway number thirty-four and there was nothing there. Then he went up to gate number thirty-three and sure enough, the dead body was there. He made certain and then went back to the Sukkur police station. The Subedar saw him coming from a distance and shouted, ‘Oh, may the wrath of God fall on you, why have you come back?’ ‘Sain, the Subedar at Rohri sent one of his men to see the dead body and the man came back and reported that the body is caught in gate number thirty-three so I am sent back to you.’ ‘Sit down, you son of a gauge-reader,’ the Subedar roared. ‘A murder has taken place in your limits and in your duty time, and you have moved the dead body to change the place of murder. This is as serious a crime as murder. Senior munshi, let me see the code for this crime.’ ‘Come here, let me show you the code for such crimes,’ the senior munshi called him. ‘Let it be, Munshi. It is my fault. I am guilty,’ The gauge-reader was on the verge of tears. ‘Certainly you are a criminal. And on top of that you are setting up the officers of two police stations against each other. If they fight, you will be caught between the two and you will be like grain in the mill and be powdered to nothing.’ ‘Sain, believe me, I am not trying to make a feud between them and I have not even touched the dead body.’ ‘Then how come the dead body is at gate number thirty-three?’ ‘Sain, by God, I don’t know. I have lost my senses. With my two eyes I saw it in gate number thirty-four in the morning, and when I was coming back from Rohri, I looked again and it was caught in gate number thirty-three.’ ‘Then who moved it, was it ghosts and jinns?’ ‘Sain, the Subedar from Rohri said the dead body was shifted by the King River.’ The Subedar was lost in thought and after a while, then looked up. ‘Yes, this is possible. The river is a King.’ ‘Good Sain, please take the report. It’s getting late.’ ‘Certainly the report will be taken. But it is evening now. Who will take out the dead body at this time?’ ‘Then what should I do?’ ‘You come back in the morning. I will get the report ready during the night. All you have to do then is to put your signature to it.’ **Questions for Comprehension:** 1. What is meant by jurisdiction? 2. Show by what steps the writer explains official procedure. 3. Rules must have precedence over human considerations. Explain. 4. Why do people refrain from reporting crime? 5. What is the main message of Nasim Kharal’s story? 6. Write this story briefly in your own words. **Guess the Meaning:** Select the meaning that you think is closest to the meaning in the context for each of these words. What clues in the story helped you to make the correct guess? 1. barrage a. a bombardment b. a type of dam c. collection of barrels 2. breach a. rupture b. seaside c. gap or hole 3. obstinate a. stubborn b. obstacle c. obtuse 4. gauge-reader a. one who measures the water level b. railway tracks c. iron monger 5. wrath a. a type of soup b. anger c. a type of cloth 6. feud a. feudal lord b. food shortage c. ongoing conflict between families or groups ‘But Sain, if the dead body is left in the water for a second night it will be beyond recognition.’ ‘Now look here, nothing will happen in the night. You come back bright and early tomorrow.’ Not in the night, but the next day as he was starting off for Sukkur, it occurred to him that he should take a look at the dead body once again. He was certain that it would be beyond recognition. He placed his hands on the wall and peered down and for a minute he was dazed. The dead body was not in the gateway. He ran to the next gateway and there it was, caught in gateway number thirty-four. He remained standing on the footpath for a few minutes. He did not move towards Sukkur and neither did he turn back towards Rohri. It was still dark on both sides. As if there was fire in one direction and water in the other. He thought for a while and then looked both ways. There was nobody there, neither near nor far. He got up on the wall and put his hand to the key of the gateway. At breakfast time, as the gauge-reader was going towards his room the Surveyor asked him, ‘Ghulamo, which of the two Subedars did you hand over the dead body to?’ ‘Sir, neither of the two Subedars took that unclaimed dead body. So I sent it on the mighty king whose jurisdiction is big, from the Sukkur barrage here to the Arabian Sea far off!’