Chapter 3, Mano Majra Summary

In chapter three, the constable brings Chand's plan into action. The village is in a state of depressed shock over the burned corpses when the constables release Malli and his gang; the villages know Jugga had nothing to do with it, but the fact that Malli has been released signaled to them that the police were sure. The constable also makes the appropriate inquiries about the Muslim gang and about "Muhammad" Iqbal, who Meet Singh protested was Sikh.

The constable's visit divides Mano Majra into two neat halves. The Muslims are afraid that, since they were tenants and at their Sikh landlords' mercy, that they would be hurt or expelled. The Sikhs seem like strangers. For whatever reason, the Sikhs become angry; they feel that the Muslims cannot be trusted and that they mistreat women and arbitrarily kill their...