LEASE OF LAND
It was a Sunday. I was sitting at the house of a lawyer friend of mine, having evening tea. Some other friends of the lawyer had also come. They were talking on various topics. I was sitting quietly and listening to everyone.
At that very moment, an old man came there. He looked like a typical villager. The old man greeted the lawyer and asked- 'It has been three months since we won the case, but you have not yet given us possession of the land. How much more time will it take, sir?'
The lawyer took out the file of his case and started flipping through it. After reading some papers, he said, 'The court has issued an order to give you possession of the land, but the peon is not giving it yet. Do this, give me five hundred rupees, I will get the order from the peon and get you possession.'
'I don't have money today, lawyer sahab', the old man said in a pitiful voice.
'When you don't have money, why did you come to waste my time? A case is not fought empty-handed. Bring the money tomorrow, and then we will talk.'
The old man flattered the lawyer a lot but it did not affect him. He remained firm on his stand. Finally, giving up, the old man took out a piece of cloth from his bag. There were some rupees tied in a knot. While counting them, he said, 'BabuJi, keep these three hundred rupees, I will give the rest later.'
'How will the work be done in three hundred rupees? Take out the remaining two hundred rupees too. This habit of yours is very bad. I have to tell you again and again.'
'Now only fifty rupees are left for the fare, BabuJi. How will I be able to reach home on foot?'
'I don't know all this, if you want to get the work done then take out the remaining money too, or else don't fool Me.' said the lawyer in a harsh tone.
The old man took out the last fifty rupee note and gave it to the lawyer.
The lawyer kept the money in his pocket and said- 'Tomorrow I will get the possession order from the peon. Come the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow we will get the land possession proceedings done. But don't come empty-handed. It will take at least three to four hundred rupees to appoint the commissioner and other things. Make the arrangements and come.'
The lines of worry on the old man's face had deepened. He left saying it's okay BabuJi.
I asked the lawyer, 'The order to take possession of the land is already in your file, so why did you take so much money from that poor man? He looked very poor anyway.'
'All this is business talk, you won't understand.' said the lawyer laughing.
The other friends of the lawyer looked at me with contempt. One of them said- 'You are a carefree writer. What do you know about worldly affairs and how to run a household?'
I got up in annoyance and came out. I don't know what was there in that old man's pitiable face that I was drawn to him and followed him. I looked closely; the old man was standing in one place. I went near him and said- 'What is your case for, Baba?'
The old man did not answer. He kept standing silently. Perhaps he was afraid of telling his plight to a stranger.
On my repeated prodding, he started telling about himself- 'Sir, my name is Girdhar. I am a resident of Surajpur village. Seven years ago, the landless labourers in our village were given leases of the fallow land of the village society by the government. A lease of two bighas of land was also made in my name. At that time my happiness knew no bounds.
I had also become a 'landowner' from a labourer.
'But my happiness could not last long. After a few months, the Pradhan got the lease of that piece of land in the name of one of his men Ramphal in collusion with the Lekhpal. I pleaded to everyone from the Kanungo to the District Officer, but no one listened to my plea. Defeated, I knocked on the door of the court. I filed a case against Pradhan, Lekhpal, and Ramphal.
'When the summons in their name arrived from the court, they got furious. Various kinds of pressures were put on me to withdraw the case. First, they talked about settling the case by giving four-six thousand rupees. Then they threatened me.'
'I knew the power and influence of the Pradhan. The goons of the village and the surrounding areas were with him. He had access to political people. I explained to my son that one cannot be hostile to the crocodile while living in water. It is better to compromise with those people. But my son Dharmu was not ready for this. He was a strong young man. In the zeal of youth, he did not understand what I was saying. I explained to him a lot about the highs and lows but he was not ready to bow down against injustice. Therefore, he was adamant about filing a case.
'Meanwhile, the hooliganism of the Pradhan had increased. He and his soldiers did not leave any opportunity to insult me and my family. Only six months had passed since the case was going on. I was constantly receiving threats. I had not even dreamed that this case would bring such a big upheaval in my life.'
'One day in the evening, my son Dharmu was returning from work. On the way, the Pradhan's goons surrounded him and attacked him. They started beating Dharmu with sticks and axes. Dharmu was a good goon. He fought them bravely but what could the poor fellow do alone against eight-ten goons? They kept beating him until he fell unconscious. Later, thinking him dead, they dumped him in a sugarcane field.'
'When I reached the farm with some people after getting the news, Dharmu was lying unconscious in the field. His condition was very serious. Blood was flowing from many places in his body. His breath was very slow.'
'I took him to the hospital in a bullock cart. A lot of blood had been lost. The doctors somehow saved Dharmu's life after several days of treatment. But due to a deep wound in one of Dharmu's legs, poison had spread and the doctors had no choice but to amputate one of Dharmu's legs. I was watching my young son becoming disabled with stony eyes.'
'Dharmu's mother was already ill. She could not bear such a shock and suddenly died of a heart attack.'
'In this accident, I lost my wife and my only son became disabled for life, but still, I was not disillusioned with that lifeless piece of land. BabuJi, I thought, when everything is already ruined, what is the harm in fighting the case now? If I win, I will sell that piece of land and get my daughter married.'
'I had it in my mind that the case would be over in two-three dates, but when the case started, it kept on increasing like Draupadi's saree. Today, it has been seven years since the case is going on. My two buffaloes, my late wife's silver jewelry, and household goods have all been sacrificed one by one in the case, but that piece of land is still a dream for me.
'Anyway, a few days ago, somehow the case was decided. I won the case, but I had to pay a heavy price for this victory. That is why I was not able to understand whether to laugh or cry on this victory.'
'The lawyer said - after a few days you will get possession of the land. I was thinking of meeting the lawyer for many days, but I did not have the money to come to the city. Today, somehow I managed to arrange for the rent. When I started going to the city, my daughter gave me three hundred rupees which she had saved for many months to buy a dhoti. Her dhoti is torn to shreds, due to this; it has become difficult for him to even cover her body.'
'I had thought that after meeting the lawyer Sahab, I would buy a dhoti, but the lawyer Sahab took that money from me by promising possession of the land. I pleaded with the lawyer Sahab a lot but his heart did not melt. The greed for money is probably never satiated BabuJi. Today, I do not even have the fare left. I will probably have to go to the village on foot.' After saying this, the old man became quiet. Countless shadows of worry were visible on his face.
After listening to the old man's painful story, every part of my heart was filled with unknown pain.
I took out a fifty rupee note and gave it to the old man. While consoling him, I said - 'Don't lose courage baba. Now you have reached very close to your destination. When you have won the case, then sooner or later you will also get possession. You have done a great job by fighting against injustice. This fight of yours will be an example for those who keep facing such atrocities.'
The old man left after blessing me. I stood there like a statue for a long time, then with tired feet and a heavy heart I started walking towards home.
