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A Ganesh Nadar

There is violence in the air...

Panickanadarkudieruppu is a part of the Nalumadi village panchayat. Angamangalam borders Nalumadi village. The bazaar for both these villages is Kurumbur. Kurumbur bustles with activity in the evening. Farmers pay their labourers and also chalk out their next day's work. Purchases both for the house and the fields are made here every evening.

Landlords sit at various vantage points, holding court. Each one of them has his own group of sycophants at his beck and command. The crowd around each man is directly proportional to his employment capacity.

Ganesh had just arrived in Kurumbur by a local bus. He was entering his cousin's pawn brokers shop when a moped, travelling at break-neck speed, screeched to a halt. The fertiliser merchant, Radhakrishnan, was running towards his van. He left in a hurry.

Ganesh approached the moped rider who was very agitated. "The Angamangalam president has been attacked with a sword," he said. Ganesh felt his blood run cold. He asked the pillion rider to get off. The moped set off towards the Angamangalam panchayat office.

Murugesapandi also headed towards the trouble spot on his Hero Honda. The Co-operative-operative Bank secretary, Devarajan, reached there on his Bullet.

There was a lot of blood on the road just outside the Angamangalam panchayat office. There was no sign of the president. The crowd explained that Radhakrishnan and another villager had carried him away in his van. One of the president's sons had armed himself with a sword and was chasing the murderer.

Selvam, the rice mill owner, arrived in his car. Murugesapandi, Ganesh and the mechanic, Moorthy, jumped in. The president's wife came wailing to the car. Ganesh did not let her get in. "A woman will be a nuisance there, even if she's his wife," he said. The others agreed. The wailing woman was held back by the crowd.

The Ambassador raced towards the Alwarthirunagari police station. The van carrying the injured president was there. Radhakrishnan's shirt and dhoti were full of blood. The president was unconscious. He was lying face down. There was a huge gash on his head. There were cut marks on his shoulder and hand. Two police constables got into the van.

The van, followed by the Ambassador, reached the Srivaikundam government hospital. The president was carried in on a stretcher. The constable ran to get the doctor from her quarters. She was an old lady with a permanent scowl of disapproval. She put her finger into the gash on the president's head and declared, "The skull isn't damaged, he'll live! Take him to the Medical College hospital in neighbouring Tirunelveli."

She dressed the wounds and gave the president two injections. By this time, he had regained consciousness and identified his would-be murderer as Durairaj, who belonged to the same village. The doctor recorded his statement.

The Chidambranar district Tamil Maanila Congress president, S N Ramaswamy, arrived with his entourage. After all, the Angamangalam president belonged to the TMC. Ramaswamy advised the doctor and the police to do their best. He sent somebody to buy another dhoti for the president. The dhoti he was wearing was soaked with blood. The new dhoti arrived and the blood soaked one was removed. The cops promptly seized it.

The president was carried into Ramaswamy's car. The two Ambassadors and the van left for the Tirunelveli Medical College hospital, 27 km away. The cavalcade reached there around 9.30 pm, two-and-a-half hours after the violent attack.

The medical officer on duty wasn't very impressed with the wounds. He first had the head X-rayed. Then, he called for a barber. Ganesh, Murugesapandi and Radhakrishnan searched all the wards in that huge hospital, but there was no sign of the barber. They found him 45 minutes later, in a tea-shop opposite the hospital.

Meanwhile, all the shops in Kurumbur had downed their shutters in protest against the attack on the president. Posters had come up, condemning the police for supporting bootleggers. Durairaj used to sell liquor in the past. Some boys were blocking the road. The elders scolded them, "To sympathise with the president, we closed our shops. We have no right to block the road and cause hardship to the public. The youngsters reluctantly allowed the traffic to flow.

The barber finished his job. Two interns prepared the president for sutures. Induja, a pretty, young intern checked the patient's pressure. It looked fine. The doctor arrived and the anaesthetist did his job. Dr Induja came out and looked at the crowd enquiringly. "We need a bottle of blood, any relative around?" The president's son stepped forward. Ganesh, Radhakrishnan and Murugesapandi also went along.

The boy looked very thin, so Dr Induja asked him if he had suffered from any illness. He said he was taking medicines for tuberculosis. She said that she could not take his blood. As there was no other relative around, Dr Induja decided to take the required blood from the blood bank. She said, "One of you donate your blood and we'll exchange it at the bank." Radhakrishnan and Murugesapandi looked at each other. Ganesh volunteered.

Ganesh went out to eat as the doctor didn't want him to donate blood on an empty stomach. The president's head and hand were stitched up. The head now had a huge bandage. He was unconscious.

Ganesh donated blood on a different floor. Then, they exchanged it at the bank. The blood packet was hung up and started dripping into the president's veins.

A van arrived with about 40 people, including the president's wife. Another car arrived with the Nalumadi president and the Alwarthirunagari union chairman. Now, there were more than a hundred well-wishers of the patient on the campus. Devarajan, the Co-operative Bank secretary, also reached the hospital. He had exchanged his Bullet for a Maruti van.

The ward was packed, other patients gaped. The ward doctor pleaded with Ganesh to get rid of the crowd or else.... Ganesh cajoled and threatened until the crowd left the ward. Only the wife and son remained inside.

Downstairs, the crowd refused to go home. Ganesh, Moorthy and Murugesapandi left. The Nalumadi panchayat president also left with the Alwarthirunagari union chairman. Ramaswamy's car and Devarajan's Maruti left together. Both the vans stayed the night.

The next day, the shops in Kurumbur were still closed. They refused to open even after a request from Inspector Xavier of the Alwarthirunagari police station. He pleaded, "If you keep the shops closed and assemble here, I have to guard you to make sure you don't create a scene. If you'll go back to your shops, I can go and catch the assailant." The crowd refused to budge.

Finally the Nalumadi panchayat president and the Alwarthirunagari union chairman worked out a compromise with Ramaswamy. As a result, the police agreed to file a chargesheet under Section 307 (premeditated murder). Four witness were found. When a copy of the chargesheet was read out to the crowd, they dispersed peacefully. As it was already 6 pm, they decided to open the shops the next day.

Ganesh and David Nadar went to see the president in hospital. He had been shifted to another ward. He was weak, but cheerful. He came out of hospital after a month. Durairaj was arrested a fortnight later in a neighbouring field. He is out on bail now.

The case has not come up for hearing yet. The villagers do not expect justice for they fear that the witnesses will not stand up strongly in court. The president has several grown-up sons. They have planned to get justice in their own way. Illegal, yes! But certainly more just.