‘Are you still standing there? Will you go or not?’ the armed guard yelled at her.

‘Come away, Yiu Yi, or he will hit you,’ her father said and grasped her hand.

Mei Lin came forward and looked at Robin for a moment. Then hugging Yiu Yi to herself, she said, ‘Come away, Yiu Yi. Don’t disturb Sipahi dada.’

The armed guard, placing his hand on Mei Lin’s back pushed her ahead.

‘Move. Move forward.’

‘Hey, don’t you dare touch her,’ Robin shouted in rage, forgetting his position.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, don’t touch her.’

The guard halted. Staring hard at Robin, he asked, ‘What happened? So much sympathy? They are all bloody enemies of our country. They spit on the plate from which they eat. Ungrateful people.’

‘Even then. Don’t touch her.’

‘Why? Is she your sweetheart?’

‘Shut up. I say shut up. Or I’ll break your teeth!’

‘What’s going on here? Go do your work,’ the magistrate ordered. Robin went out without looking at Mei Lin.

‘Move. Move. Move to the gate.’

The detainees were put on the trucks waiting outside the cowshed. After all the people were on board, the trucks left in a convoy.

The entrance to the Cheenapatti lane had been cleared. So had the main road. Pulok and his friends, who were waiting at the entrance to the lane, were all chased out. Beyond the police cordon, hosts of friends and relatives of the captives were waiting in fear and anguish for a last look at their dear ones.

The wailing, crying and pleading of the relatives and friends of the captives had turned the Makum sky into a pall of gloom and despair. The chaos was overtaken by the sound of the roaring trucks that were moving out.

The abandoned houses were sealed by then. On each seal was a piece of paper that said in red ink with bold letters: ENEMY PROPERTY.

Twenty

Twenty

The situation at Kameng Frontier was miserable.

Bomdila had fallen. The Chinese troops were advancing towards Tezpur. Rescue operations were on. The helicopters carrying the Monpas and other civilians from the frontier region were landing one after the other on the Balipara helipad.

The newly arrived Indian troops were busy protecting the Tezpur airfield and making other arrangements. Now there remained only Chaku between Tezpur and Bomdila. If that fell to the Chinese, there would be no resistance left between the Chinese troops and the army headquarters in Tezpur.

The inhabitants of Tezpur and its neighbouring areas who could afford to leave had already evacuated the region. The Tezpur ferry pier was teeming with people fleeing from the hills of NEFA and the locals as well. The large ferries on the Brahmaputra were busy carrying people across day and night. There was almost no administration in the entire area. The train services had been closed down. All the employees had fled.