Somehow these people got themselves fed in the crammed mess tents.
That was the first day of the "Trial." I consider it a marvel of crowd handling.
After that first evening meal, most people slept, exhausted. Many slept where they were in the mess tents, while the servers stepped over them with their trays. Some slept anyhow outside their tents - inside was too hot. It was a scene of apparent disorder. But even so, the whites removed themselves to their self-created ghetto, and posted guards.
Next morning, at four, when the two contending groups stood in the arena under the newly lit torches with their yawning attendant children, the tiers were half-filled, and during that session remained half-full, for many of the delegates were too tired to rouse themselves.
So that dramatic early morning session was at half pressure, and when at eight o'clock the laggards staggered up to meet those who had been for four hours on the stone seats, with the dawn coming up red, dusty, and very warm, again to repair to the mess tents for their bread and fruit, it was to hear at secondhand a report of the proceedings. There had been two "witnesses," both much looked forward to, and of prime emotional importance. First, the representative of the Indian tribes of North America, and then the witness from India.
A young man from the Hopi tribe of the Southwest of the United States stood alone in the centre of the arena calling up into the half-empty tiers, turning around slowly so that all could hear and see, holding out his palms in front of him as if "he was offering himself and his case to us in his outstretched hands, poor fellow." (Benjamin Sherban.) When he started it was full night with thick stars. They dimmed as he went on.
Europe had been crammed with miserable starving people because of the greed of its ruling classes. When these downtrodden ones protested, they were persecuted, hanged for stealing even an egg or a piece of bread, flogged, thrown into prison... they were encouraged to leave and go to North America, where they systematically stole everything from the Indian tribes who lived there in harmony with the earth and with nature. There was no trick, or cruelty or brutality these white thieves did not practise. When they had filled the land from coast to coast, and killed off the animals and destroyed trees and the soil, they confined the Indians in prison areas and mistreated them. These people, whose very existence in this great land of the Indians was because of the greed and cruelty of their own kind, now forgot their recent history and became the same themselves. Very soon, the white thieves had divided themselves into rich and poor, and the rich were as cruel and oppressive and uncaring of their fellow humans as any in history. Due to the exploitation of the labour of the poor, the new rulers became very powerful, and exploited not only North America but other parts of the world. They imported slaves from Africa, again in the most cruel and brutal way, to do their work and be their servants. This great country, which once was inhabited by peoples who did not know the words for rich, poor, owning, possessing, who lived their lives through in communion with, and obedience to, the Great Spirit who rules the world(I am of course quoting from the agents' reports), this rich and beautiful country was despoiled, poisoned, made an arsenal of weapons. And from coast to coast, from North to South, every person in it was made to worship not the Great Spirit who was the soul of every person of mankind', but the accumulation of wealth. Money. Goods. Objects. Eating. Power. The poorest of the whites was rich compared with the subject Indians. The most deprived and exploited of the poor were privileged - in law compared with the people whose real home this was. This United States - a term which he used with contempt, spitting it out - was a place of shame, wickedness, corruption, evil. And all these crimes had been committed in the name of "progress" - spitting it out. All, in a spirit of self-congratulation and self-approval.
And then, the summing-up, the indictment:
"At the root of this criminal behaviour was contempt, the despising of others not like yourself, an arrogance that prevented you from I ever even enquiring into the real nature of the peoples you dispossessed and treated as inferiors, a lack of humility and the curiosity that is based on humility. The indictment against you is arrogance, ignorance, stupidity. And God will punish you. The Great Spirit is punishing you, and soon you will be no more than a memory, and a shameful ugly memory."
These words were called up, or half shouted, phrase by phrase, very slowly, and the young man had his face to the sky, and his hands always held open and out - by the time he had ended, the sky was paling. The old white man sat there unmoving, and silent.
Complete silence. No one moved.
The torches were smoking and the children, aided by George Sherban, put them out. The cicadas had begun.
Throughout this contribution, a few laggards were making their way down to seat themselves. The great amphitheatre remained half-empty as a young woman from North India, the leader of the Youth Armies, Sharma Patel, George Sherban's reputed mistress, walked forward to the centre.
She is beautiful, and made an impression at once. Agent Tsi Kwang described her as "striking, and with many personal advantages."
"Europe, mostly Britain, but other countries too, had seen India, as Europe always did, as a place to be conquered, exploited, used. For two and a half centuries India had been drained of its wealth." Here followed twenty minutes of statistics. This was not altogether successfuclass="underline" material and delivery appropriate to a seminar were used in this vast setting where it was necessary to strain the ears to hear anything. Before this part of her contribution was done, her audience was restless, if sympathetic. "India had been occupied 'for her own good,' of course, in the usual hypocritical mode of Europe, by armies and by police, and the continent's inhabitants, with their intricate ancient history, their many complementary religions, their diverse cultures, were treated by the white invaders as inferior. The rule of Britain over India had been accomplished and maintained by arms, and by the whip. The people who did this were the barbarians. They were..." and here came the familiar indictment: "They were arrogant. Their exploitation of India was done in the name of progress and of their own superiority. Superior! Those ugly clumsy people with their thick minds and bodies! Yet these superior people were incapable of learning even the languages of the people they subjugated. They were ignorant of our customs, our history, our ways of thought. They were never anything but stupid people, stupid, ignorant, and self-satisfied."
These two contributions took until eight.
The late sleepers had to hear about the first two "indictments" from those returning to look for their breakfast. "Well, yes, but we know all that" was the frequent comment. As if they were expecting more, or something different. But what? For this was a consistent emotion from the beginning of the "Trial" to its end. It is something I have pondered on, and still find an enigma.
Throughout that day, until five and the evening session, it was hot, uncomfortable, and difficult in the camp. Everyone understood that this indeed was going to be no easy time. There were too many of them. There was not enough water. Already sorties were being made in search of new supplies of food and water. The dust was on everything. This was the time they should be sleeping, but where? And the local people had already arrived, were arriving more and more, and stood about, watching the thousands of young people who milled around looking for more food, a little shade, places to sleep. What they did, in a resigned enough spirit, was to settle down in groups, perhaps playing instruments and singing, or talking, or discussing conditions in their respective countries. Such meeting times of the youth have always been - I have consistently maintained - not far-off legislative sessions! In effect, at least. And George Sherban and his brother and the other "stars" were everywhere, taking part in discussions and music making. The old white was there, too, received well enough by everyone, and indeed often finding himself the centre of interested groups.