Crimes #BAD2011
The siege went on for many days and we were powerless to affect the outcome. All we heard were rumours: that despite careful rationing, food had run out and the settlers had been reduced to eating grass. The police had destroyed the tubewells and there was no potable water left; the settlers were drinking from puddles and ponds and an epidemic of cholera had broken out. "One of the settlers managed to get through the police cordon by swimming across the Garal River -an amazing feat in its own right. But not content with that, the young man had somehow made his way to Kolkata where he talked at length to the newspapers. A furore broke out, citizens groups filed petitions, questions were asked in the legislature and finally the High Court ruled that barricading the settlers was illegal; the siege would have to be lifted. The settlers, it seemed, had won a notable victory. The day after the news reached us, I saw Horen waiting near the badh. Neither he nor I needed to say anythin