They had noticed that these days Ananta did not talk to them as he did before. Although he smiled at them in acknowledgement, he no longer joked with them. They understood how busy he was with collecting donations, training people for emergency duties, collecting woollens for the soldiers and holding meetings. But he had stopped involving the students from Cheenapatti in his activities. They knew all these activities were against China. The people of Makum who had come from China had no right to take part in these exercises. They were slowly beginning to feel demoralized. It seemed that the love that had earlier bound the people of this small township had vanished.

At that moment, Hong went onstage to explain the objectives of the meeting. Forgetting everything, Mei Hang gazed at him.

‘In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Chinese came to Assam – which was then under British rule – to work in the tea gardens. Most of them were forcibly brought as indentured labourers by human traffickers. After that too, many people came to this land willingly, in search of a good life. Most of them had married local girls and settled down. They made it their home. The people of the Chinese society of Assam, which is composed of the second, third and fourth generations of those indentured labourers and early migrants, have no other place to go. This is our motherland. This land never let us suffer. It has fed us, has given us shelter and security. Here, we have found love!’

Hong, who was an undergraduate student of Kanoi College, Dibrugarh, spoke fluent Assamese. The audience looked at this gentle, handsome boy in admiration.

‘We have received so much from this land. Perhaps we could not give much in return. But we have given our toil and loyalty. We have mixed our identity with this soil. True, we came from China. But we can never betray this land. To us, this is our motherland. Our janam jaga. Today, our people are full of fear. They are afraid that someone might question their loyalty. After much thought, our elders have decided to call this meeting to express our love and loyalty towards India and to ask for advice from the wisest among us about the appropriate course of action.’

As soon as Hong finished, Ho Chang Ho stood up to speak. Hong came down and stood near Alan and the others. His heart became turbulent with intense emotions, with the feeling of deep humiliation and sadness. His tearful eyes filled Mei Hang’s heart with an inexplicable desire to be close to him.

After Ho Chang Ho, the headmaster of GBC School delivered his speech.