Bloodstains

Dargah

Qawwali was being performed there, people were constantly coming and going, and there was noise everywhere.

Amidst all this, a young man was approaching, holding a large tray in his hands. His eyes were restlessly moving from one side to another, perhaps waiting for someone to arrive.

A few moments later, a smile appeared on his lips. His wait was over. From the opposite side, a girl wearing a black shawl was approaching. Her eyes were lowered, strands of hair brushed against her cheeks, and her face was flushed red from the cold.

They stopped in front of each other, as if everything had come to a standstill. The noise had disappeared, and all that remained was the attraction in their eyes.

The girl said, “Assalamualaikum.”

The boy replied, “Wa Alaikum Assalam. How are you, Mohatarma?”

“By your prayers, I am well.”

She raised her eyes and their gazes met. A desire stirred within them. The boy standing before her took a step forward.

“Rukhsar.”

“Chhote Sarkar, Chhote Sarkar, something terrible has happened,” someone came running, screaming.

“Yakub Bhai, something terrible has happened. Hina Bibi has lost her life.”

“Abdul Qadir Gazi had tried to misbehave with her. She lost her life in an accident. She was running away while protecting her honour and fell from above into the ravine, onto the rocks. She lost her life.”

The tray slipped from Yakub’s hands and fell at Rukhsar’s feet. Rukhsar did not even feel the pain.

Yakub turned and looked at Rukhsar. His eyes were spitting fire.

Rukhsar had lost all awareness. Yakub said in a voice laced with poison, “Your family is going to be destroyed, Rukhsar Gazi.”

He ran away from there.

Rukhsar remained standing there for God knows how long. Hot kheer lay at her feet, but she felt nothing of the burning sensation.

The love that had been slowly breathing, someone had strangled it in an instant.

“Oh, Rukhsar is standing here. You didn’t meet him? Did you get to see him? What happened? Will your story move forward, or will your love become a victim of this enmity?”

“Everything is ruined, Noori.”

Noori screamed, “Oh Allah, how did this hot kheer spill? Move back quickly, you’ll get burned.”

“I am already burned, Noori. I am destroyed. This enmity will never end. Both hope and desire have died.”

The two families, the Gazis and the Jahangirs, had been enemies for years. Their territories had been separated.

If anyone tried to go from one territory to the other, gunshots would be fired there.

Amidst this enmity, two hearts had met, Yakub and Rukhsar. There was only one place connecting the two territories, this Dargah, where this love had begun. Today, this love was being sacrificed here.

For the past two hours, the sound of gunshots had been coming from both territories.

Red Mansion

“Oh, Hina has gone. She hadn’t even seen her sister-in-law’s jewellery. She used to say, ‘I will see my elder sister-in-law’s jewellery.’ Where is she now?”

A woman sitting on a wooden platform was screaming. It was her eldest son’s wedding. Hina, who was the youngest, had been dreaming of her brother’s wedding. She had gone out with one of her friends.

A maid came running in.

“Begum Sahai, Begum Sahai, gunshots are being fired in both territories. I don’t know what has happened.”

“Oh Allah, let my son’s nikah happen safely. Go and see where my child is. Bring her here.”

A voice came from outside.

“Amma Sahai, don’t call for her anymore.”

Khadija Begum was the wife of Jahangir Alam. Her status in this territory was such that not even a leaf moved without their influence. Their family had been ruling as chieftains and landlords since the time of their ancestors.

Even today, they held the same dominance. Enemies and friends alike trembled at the very name of this family.

Khadija Begum cried out in anguish, “Why shouldn’t I call for her? My flower has gone to get parandas for herself. Today she was going to take your jewellery to your in-laws’ house. She had gone to take out her wedding dress.”

“Amma Sahai, change that dress into a white one. Prepare for her funeral.”

Khadija Begum screamed, “Sher, I will tear your tongue out if you say another word in front of me…”

Holding back his tears, Sher lowered his head and said, “There is no lie in it, Amma Sahai. Your daughter has left this world while running away from the enemies.”

“Now her funeral bier will come home, that too…”

“Abid! Abid!”

A man came running.

“Yes, Begum Sahai.”

Khadija Begum looked at Sher Mohammad with her red eyes and said, “Is this true?”

“Yes, Begum Sahai…”

Abid’s eyes filled with tears.

Begum Khadija steadied her staggering steps.

“Yakub, Arif, send word to them. Before my daughter’s dead face is seen, cut that man into six pieces and place them at my daughter’s feet.”

“The one who…”

“Abdul Qadir Gazi,” Sher Mohammad said.

She placed her hand over her heart.

“His father’s turban should be at my daughter’s feet.”

“And tell Jahangir Alam that the doors of this mansion are closed to him until the blood of those guilty men leaves marks beneath their feet all the way to the threshold of this mansion.”

“Go, Sher Mohammad. Do not show your face to your mother until you have brought justice for your sister.”

Saying this, she turned away.

“Yes, Amma Sahai. As you command.”

As soon as Sher Mohammad left, Khadija Begum sat down on the ground, clutching her chest.

“My God, in a single moment, you have taken the lives of both my children away from me.”

She had seen the flame of love burning in Yakub’s eyes. When she had asked him her name, he had said, “Amma Sahai, Rukhsar is just like a flower.”

For the past twenty years, this enmity had been carried out with great intensity, but never before had it reached a woman’s honour.

People on both sides respected the honour of women. For the first time, a woman’s honour had become an issue.

Five elders sat in front of them. Before them sat Sardar Jahangir Alam. He rose from his place and said today, “Salim Gazi will make the decision.”

Among the elders sitting before him was Salim Gazi. He always sat with his head held high in pride. Today, there was no pride. His eyes were lowered.

“Forgive my son, Jahangir.”

“Forgive him? Do you know how many of yours have died and how many of ours have died in these twenty years of enmity? We never regretted it. We never forgave each other.”

He continued, “Do you know that in all these years, no woman had ever died or been disgraced? But while escaping from your son, my child became the victim of an accident.”

Hearing this, Salim Gazi removed his turban.

“Your daughter was my daughter too, Jahangir, but I am ashamed.”

Jahangir Alam looked into his eyes with his bloodshot eyes.

“Yakub and Sher have gone looking for your son.”

Salim Gazi’s hands trembled.

“No, Yakub will kill him, my son…”

“This cowardice does not suit you, Salim Gazi.”

Salim Gazi stepped back and went to place his turban at Hina’s feet.

“Jahangir, you know that the most frightened and helpless person in this world is a father.”

Jahangir Alam roared, “Hina Jahangir’s father is neither frightened nor cowardly.”

“Do you know what Khadija has said? I must bring the bloodstains of those guilty of her daughter’s death beneath my feet all the way to her threshold, otherwise the doors of the mansion are closed to me.”

“Let the decision be made. What punishment will the son receive for this crime, and what punishment will the father receive?”

Everyone began discussing it among themselves. Then one elder stood up and said, “Blood is avenged with blood, and honour with honour. Then the Salim Gazi family has two crimes upon its head, one of blood and the other of honour. The decision is this: one daughter has been lost, so the other’s daughter will go to the Red Mansion.”

Salim Gazi pulled out his gun and said, “I do not accept this decision.”

Another elder said, “The guilty are not given the choice to accept the decision. They are commanded to obey it. Salim Gazi’s daughter should be called to the panchayat.”

After some time, the men returned empty-handed.

“Abbas Gazi has killed the men who were sent. He has said that his father’s turban can be brought and placed at their feet, but his sister cannot.”

A few hours later, Rukhsar stood trembling in the panchayat, covering herself.

“The decision is that Rukhsar Gazi will spend one night in Jahangir Alam’s mansion. What Jahangir Alam does with her will be his decision.”

Rukhsar’s eyes widened in shock.

“I do not accept this.”

“You are from the guilty family, Bibi. It is your duty to obey the order.”

“But what is my fault in this?”

Rukhsar’s voice was treated as if she had not said anything at all. She raised her eyes toward Yakub with hope.

He was only looking at Hina, his Lado, whom he had left laughing that very morning. She was now dead.

“Yakub, take the girl.”

“No, Abba, Abba, Bhai…”

“Leave my sister.”

But she was being punished for what her brother had done, and her father stood with his head bowed, accepting the punishment.

Yakub grabbed Rukhsar’s hand and began dragging her away from there.

“Leave me, leave me. I swear by our love, please.”

When they reached the mansion’s door, Yakub cast one look at her.

“Do you see that funeral bier coming behind us? This love will be buried with it, and it has taken my breaths with it. The dead do not love, Rukhsar Bibi.”

He threw her inside the mansion through the door.

“Amma Sahai, here is the revenge for honour. Yakub is going to avenge her death. He will not return until he has cut him into six pieces.”

Rukhsar screamed, “No, no, let me go! Let me go!”

Rukhsar’s screams were fading behind him as Yakub moved forward toward his revenge.

The mansion adorned with white marble, the Gazi Mansion, was engulfed in mourning today.

“Bring my Rukhsar! Bring my Rukhsar back! Salim Gazi, my daughter’s honour will not become a part of someone’s revenge.”

A man came running.

“Sahib, Sahib, Abdul Bhai is going to the city. He needs our help. What should we do? If Yakub has caught him, he will kill him.”

Salim Gazi said, “Salima Begum, your son has destroyed us.”

He spoke to his elder son.

“Abdul Abbas, go and hand Abdul Qadir over to Jahangir Alam. Save this family, otherwise the Gazi family will be wiped out.”

His wife Haseena screamed, “No, I want my son! How can you do this? If you are taking revenge for honour with honour, then why won’t they spare Qadir’s life?”

His love for his daughter had become pale in comparison to his son.

Salim Gazi looked into his wife’s eyes and said, “Haseena, the accusation that has fallen upon the honour of Salim Gazi may be small to you, but it is not small to me.”

“You are blinded by your love for your son. If Jahangir Alam lets him go, then this Salim Gazi himself will behead him, so that the men of this family who come after us know that the Gazi family never raises its eyes toward another man’s woman.”

“If the men of this family commit this crime, their heads are cut off.”

“Abbas, didn’t you hear me? Take Qadir to Jahangir.”

“There will be no need for that now, Abba. Yakub has already caught him.”

Yakub had a sword in his hand. Looking at his father, Jahangir Alam, he said, “You used to say that she is Yakub’s Lado and that no one could love her more than I do.”

“Yes, I used to say that.”

Even now, his tone was stern.

Yakub said, “I have to cut him into pieces.”

Abdul Qadir was writhing.

“My father will take your life. He will kill you.”

Sher Mohammad grabbed his jaw and said, “Look at that turban, wretch. Look, your father’s pride is lying shattered at my Lado’s feet.”

Abdul Qadir’s nerves weakened.

“Abba, step back.”

At Yakub’s words, Jahangir Alam stepped back.

The next moment, five screams of Abdul Qadir echoed there.

Khadija Begum was sitting on the ground, a tasbih in her hand.

“Begum Sahai, Huzoor is coming.”

She raised her red eyes and said, “Close the doors of the mansion.”

“Go, look through the window and see whether the red footprints of his steps are still left behind or not.”