Chapter 219 – The Noble Order of the Seal

“Yes, Sardar, that Englishman was very arrogant and rude.” Jindari grumbled angrily, oblivious to the fact that he had arrived at the Viceroy’s House near the end of his shift and had not been punctual, “I said that the Congress Party represented India, and he went so far as to say that the Congress Party was not the only one that represented India, and said that when confronted with the Viceroy’s House it would be better to not resort to petty tactics to get your way as if you were confronted with the PML-N.”

“How dare he think that about us?” Patel said angrily as he listened, “How dare the British ignore the widest public opinion in India, perhaps we should let the British know what will happen if we don’t cooperate. Nehru, what do you think.”

“Uh, I’m not willing to get involved in this.” Nehru glanced at Patel with a frown and said without a hitch, “This is a very embarrassing matter indeed, the number of those girls being taken by the British is growing, our opposition is untenable on a moral level, how are we to explain to our city supporters what we are doing to maintain these temples?”

“Nehru, it is not a question of whether it is moral or not. It is important to realize that the majority are first and foremost pure Hindus and they are our supporters.” Patel was relentless, “Our wide range of supporters are not just in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, they are in every inch of land you can see.”

“So we have to protect those animals?” Nehru asked rhetorically, disgruntled, “I’m sorry, I don’t want India to be the world’s joke, in fact if we openly oppose it, we won’t be able to talk about a great India in the future. I definitely don’t approve of open opposition to this British move. If there is anything else you can do, I am absolutely happy to see it.”

Nehru took a strong resistance to Patel’s idea and then turned to Gandhi and said, “Respected Mr. Gandhi, there is indeed a part within Hinduism that is not suitable for the modern world, and we have no moral position to oppose this British action, which will affect the image of the whole of India if it becomes a big deal.”

After finishing his speech Nehru said that he would never get involved in this matter. Deep down he was not a fan of Hinduism, and usually making a show of embracing Hinduism was nothing more than a show.

It was only the reality of the subcontinent that forced him to make the appearance of supporting Hinduism, deep down Nehru, has always had a favorable impression of the Soviet Union’s line of development.

“In talking to the Viceroy’s office to get favorable terms.” Gandhi mused, knowing that the two giants representing the enlightened and the conservative in the party were not at all of the same attitude towards the matter, and began to make peace, “In this way, if Patel is very much concerned about the matter, there will be you to come forward and communicate with the British.”

“Alright, I’ll go as soon as I’m ready.” Patel nodded and rose from his seat, leaving the conference room in three steps, and Gandhi waved for Jindari to go out with him.

“Mr. Gandhi, we don’t have that incentive to confront the Viceroy’s office on this matter. How do we explain that against the British rescuing those holy women?” When the two men had left, Nehru spoke, “Yes, I recognize that the Hindus at large are our staunch supporters, but our supporters also distinguish between where they live, and it is clear that in public opinion, the citizens who can extend our influence have misgivings about our resolute defense of those temples.”

The mass of Hindus, who may be more numerous, cannot speak out. The group of people who can speak out are the citizens living in Bombay and Delhi, and what will these citizens, think? That the Congress party, which seeks the sovereignty and independence of the country, is protecting a bunch of scum?

“But Patel’s advocacy is so strong that we always have to maintain unity.” Gandhi’s seemingly intelligent eyes stared at Nehru and said, “Let’s see what happens first, there might be a good outcome.”

“That much I know.” Nehru smiled bitterly, than seniority Patel was not below him, and the two had little in common except that they had both studied in London. While Nehru’s supporters were leftists, Patel’s supporters were distinctly Hindu in color.

Patel became famous for organizing a successful peasant movement against government taxation in the Bardoli district of Gujarat and was hailed by Gandhi as the Sardar of India. He was practically oriented, decisive and highly appealing, and was seen as a thorn in the side of the British authorities.

This gave Patel a high reputation in the Congress Party, and he was a longtime follower of Gandhi, an iron man in the Congress leadership, and the Sardar in Patel’s name was coined by Gandhi, meaning leader.

Gandhi believed that Patel’s appearance could well be a demonstration to the British of the attitude of the Congress Party.

And the person who stepped in on the Viceroy’s side was still Alan Wilson, who was simulating Cleopatra’s life with Vivienne. There was no way around it, the Viceroy was homeward bound and had grown tired of meeting with the NCP and the PMLN.

As for Sir Barron, people had positive personas, only Alan Wilson’s boyish shoulders were fit to hold up the villainous persona anymore, and meeting with Patel, one of the NCP’s triumvirate, wasn’t really any different.

After first listening to a paragraph of Patel’s accusations about this operation, Allen Wilson faced out the window and took the opportunity to pull out his ears. The man was still here, and his mind had drifted off to nowhere.

“Dear Mr. Patel, is that what you learned in London, how to protect a bunch of perverts? The law you studied in London seems to have been in vain, it is simply a shame that the British Empire has trained you.”

After listening to Patel’s accusations against the Viceroy’s Office, Alan Wilson only spoke without any panic, “But fortunately, you are always more punctual, not like the idiot before, had to wait until almost the end of the day, maybe I don’t understand the Indian’s concept of time, it may be a bit arbitrary to say so, but in reality I want to say that I don’t even understand the Indian’s concept of morality very well now anymore , which is a rare thing, and I have always thought to myself that no one understands India better than I do.”

Having finished his mouth in a clip, Allen Wilson turned with a flourish and beat over the teacups from behind him, and as he made the tea he said, “It’s early in the day, so I’ll hear now what you think of the existence of the Holy Women’s group, and of their present deliverance.”

“It is a matter for the Indians themselves and should not be settled by the colonizers.” Patel, who had been a lawyer, did not dwell on the question of the nature of the holy women’s group, but emphasized that these men, Allen Wilson, were colonists.

“Worthy of being someone who has been a lawyer, the profession of a lawyer gets paid to do things, and hasn’t created a lot of wrongful convictions, has it? Very much in the style of our British Empire!” Alan Wilson laughed, and did not forget to blacken himself, anyway, he was not embarrassed himself, it was others who were embarrassed.

“The colonizers’ hostility to Hinduism is very shocking.” As soon as Patel heard Alan Wilson’s words, he knew that he had met his match, and turned to start refuting the other party from a macro perspective.

“I would like to express hostility toward the religion of peace as well, but there is no such thing inside the mosque.” Alan Wilson had a look that this was not my fault, “We in the British Empire also want to do a little bit of good, don’t always say that we don’t do anything good when the British are mentioned in the future, and since there are problems with Hinduism, it’s better for everyone to admit their own bad luck. As I said before, don’t treat the Viceroy’s office the same way you did the PML-N, so we can still talk.”

“If there is a widespread movement of non-cooperation, I believe it is not what the Viceroy’s Office would like to see, is it?” Patel’s face was already looking bad, the young Englishman in front of him, who was nothing more than a civil servant, and who was one of the trio of the Congress Party, was treating himself so lightly.

“Mr. Governor is currently preparing to return home, if there is a soft confrontation against the British Empire at this time. It can be a great opportunity!” Alan Wilson suggested with emboldened voice, “Is it a hunger strike? I’ve never seen a hunger strike before. If someone starves themselves to death during the window of time when there is no administrator in British India, I’ll probably pretend I didn’t see it.”

“This could affect the big building program in British India and probably paralyze the entire subcontinent.”

“Pacifists make up a quarter of the population of British India, and even if the entire Hindu community were to be uncooperative, it would not delay the program.”

“It could cause violence!” Patel’s face sank and he pulled out his final spiel, “It would not be good for either side.”

“But it would be a little more bad for the Indians. Perhaps the Indians are under the illusion that they can be like the Germans.” Alan Wilson said with a sigh, “Of course, to go against us for a bunch of animals plus perverts is something no German has ever done, and if the Indians had to do it, I think the great name of the Indians would be known to no one from England to Mississippi.”

Now Patel believed Jindari’s words, and the Allen Wilson before him was, indeed, very disagreeable.

The ugly face of imperialism showed itself in front of the national leader, and this disgusting colonialist attitude was exactly what Patel had been fighting for so long for national liberation.

Allen Wilson a bastard attitude that the Indians lose more anyway, finally still provoked the Congress Party giant, Patel finally could not help …… showing flexibility in the struggle, “Indian lives are also lives, I resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Indians.”

“Ah! Hmm?” Alan Wilson looked at the Congress Party’s famous iron-fisted figure in amazement, and also suspected that he had misheard, but immediately knew that people were looking for a step down, cleared his throat, and began the first endorsement of today’s statement, “Of course, not only is the Indian’s life also a life, the Indian’s life is also very precious.”

Again, the pretense of toughness… if you’re going to give the colonists a hard time, don’t you eventually have to go soft? Alan Wilson said that it wasn’t necessarily about killing to make a point, but that he hoped the Indians would realize the error of their ways.

Patel agrees deeply, but goes further, saying that when it comes to religion, things should be handled with care.