The Iron Peacock: An Indian Play

An American born desi for accused war crimes against his native homland during a war that ensued between east and west.

The Iron Peacock (March 19, 2012)

 

 

(A jury is assembled. A court room is in hearing. Everyone rises in the presence of the judge. A short, brown, fat man with a waddle for a walk makes his way to the judge’s desk. Another brown man is seated at the accused table in an orange jumpsuit.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: We are here today on this year of our lord 2063 for the hearing of General John Kable. You here on trial for you’re participation in the Western Coalition, for aiding and abetting their campaigns and interests through the borders of India. And the rape, pillage and plunder of our lands through your military campaigns. How do you plea?

 

 

General Kable: It won’t matter. (The jurors gasp)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: General Kable?

 

 

General Kable: It won’t matter.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: General Kable would you mind telling the jurors what is so funny on the day of your hearing, why you find it amusing to doge questions in court?

 

 

General Kable: I never said anything was amusing, nor did you see me laugh one bit. I’m telling the truth your honor. At the end of this trail, weather I’m found guilty or not, It won’t matter.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Then tell me General, what are you guilty of; obviously you must be guilty of something since you are in court.

 

 

General Kable: Ha! That’s for the court to decide. The burden of proof does not lie on the accused. 

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Might I remained you Kable. This isn’t your America. In this court room, anything goes.

 

 

General Kable: Of course, least your new dictatorship gain the reputation of committing war massacres without proper trail.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Do not speak to me of massacres General Kable. If there is anyone responsible for massacres in this court, it is non-other then you.

 

 

General Kable: I object to that, I committed no massacres. I fought a war

 

 

Judge Rashwar: For the wrong side.

 

 

General Kable: For the winning side. 

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Tell me General Kable. What accomplishments do you think you would have gained by siding with the imperial west?

 

 

 General Kable: The same accomplishments my people sought to gain when they did it in the earlier half of the 21st century: riches! (Kable chuckls)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Very amusing General Kable. Your jokes will not save you from the fate to come.

 

 

General Kable: You mean my fate as SUPER MAN! (General Kable stands up from his desk and places his knuckles on his hips. The jury begins to chuckle. Judge Rashwar blushes)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Oh my god General Kable, do you think this a joke? (Judge Rashwar signals two guards to approach General Kable, one slams the end of a rifle into General Kables chin. He hits the floor with a thud.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: So where were we, ah yes? Aiding and abetting the Western Coalition through the borders of India. Setting many villages ablaze…

 

 

(Kable Stumbles up and peeks over the surface of the table. A trickle of blood channels down his lip.

 

 

General Kable: YOU FOOL! How dare you strike me! I am not even a citizen of this country, and you think you have the right to lay hands on me!

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Uh general, have you ever heard of 498-a

 

 

General Kable: What? 

 

 

Judge Rashwar: 498-a

 

 

General Kable: What?

 

 

(Judge Rashwar removes his glasses in agitation)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: 4.9.8.dash.a.

 

 

(Kable looks around in confusion)

 

 

Judge Rashwar:  498-a is an Indian law that allows mother India to detain “ABCDs” like you, after you have defiled and divorced our sacred Indian women. Even if you are an American citizen, general, once you are a child of mother India, you will always be a child to mother India. You might be an American citizen, but you are still of Indian decent, which give our laws full jurisdiction over you. (General Kable plops down on his chair )General please, I do not have time for your shenanigans. The jury will hear the courts testament, and they will decide on a verdict based on the evidence. So let’s begin.

 

 

General Kable: EH! (Interrupting the judge) what about my testament?

 

 

Judge Rashwar : You do not get one. So as I was saying…

 

 

General Kable: (Kable stands up and begins pointing fingers at the judge and yelling at the jury.) YOU SEE THIS! YOU SEE THIS! THIS IS WHAT AWAITS YOU FROM YOUR NEW GOVERNMENT! THE BEATINGS AT THE COAST OF YOUR WORDS. WITHIN 5 YEARS THIS GOVERNMENT WILL BE A TYRANNY!

 

 

 (The jurors look at the judge with suspicion. Another Guard begins approaching Kable, but the judge signals them back.) 

 

 

First of all, the only government that is at fault is the Indian government. And since this shame of an organization claims to be the dying vestiges of the last regime, then I will address this government as such. This government is responsible of embezzling billons of dollars of assets from western corporations!

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Silence this man!

 

 

(Guards begin dashing towards General Kable)

 

 

Juror# 1: Let this man speak!  

 

 

(The court room is in shock. The judge signals to halt, the guard stops in his tracks. )

 

 

Judge Rashwar: General, you will keep your mouth shut about certain matters or…

 

 

General Kable: (Interrupts the judge) NO! I will not keep my mouth shut about certain matters, if a government that is not even my own is to try me, than I will let my words lash out like the ends of whips!

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Very well General, have it your “American Way,” but know that you will only make the process and your fate harder then it already is and by the time we have executed you, you will wish you had kept your lips sealed.

 

 

General Kable: This regime you work for is a shame and a dictatorship. How dare you even claim to be the true light of the old regime?  You are nothing more then a bunch of charlatans. 

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Oh, the Iron peacock shows his feathers. Let us not forget the very fascist dictatorship you work for: the imperial west. 

 

 

General Kable: The Indian government knew what it was doing. It used the vast profits obtained from American outsourcing to keep an iron fist on its provinces. This government knew that Punjab and Tamil Nadu where on the verge of secession and needed to implement a tight rope to keep these states in check. And let’s not forget how India demonstrated that might no better with the massacre in Kashmir in 2045.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: General Kable you are a fool! You westerners are all alike, EVERY DAMN BLOODY ONE OF YOU! You see a little blood shed on your big screen TVs and behind your happy meals and you begin screaming, “murder! murder!” without even knowing a single political vestige behind the purpose to the cause. You out of all people should know the history of Kashmir and how Pakistan aids the Muslim terrorists who do unspeakable acts against our people everyday.  

 

 

General Kable: I know what the Pakistanis are capable of, and yes I know the typical hysterical reactions from the west, but the Indian government should have know what they were getting into when they went to bed with the ingrazy people. Once you take their money, you play by their rules! However, we both know what the Indian government decided to do instead that lead to the great Eastern-Western war in the first place, don’t we judge?

 

 

 (Kable gives the judge a look about a specific topic that they both know about. The Judge Rahswar gives Kable a upsetting scowl)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Kable, you know very well what that would have meant for India. Masses would have starved, our country would have declined as a globe and economic power, and it would have meant total humiliation for us as a people. We could not let western corporations pull out their off shore branches! 

 

 

General Kable: Oh, so when the west decides to pull it’s assets out because of Indian oppression, it is instead better to sever ties with the west, keep those assets for yourself, and then attempt to convert them into purely Indian enterprises? Do you really think that the west was just going sit around and let you do this? (The jury stare up at the judge in disbelief. The Judge looks down away in shame.)

 

 

Judge Raswar: And what about you, Iron Peacock? You are a sinless saint yourself? Why don’t you tell our brothers and sisters how you and your beloved “ingrazy” people politicked our nation into fragmented ruins!

 

 

General Kable: I was fighting a war. I did what I had to do. I was following orders!

 

 

(The jury gasps.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: And that’s your justification Iron Peacock, “You were only following orders?” Yes Kable, orders of a corporate, military, industrial complex that has turned our very people against each other. Because of you; there will never be a unified India. The nation state of Punjab is already outlining alliances with Pakistan.  Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka are already talking about forming a greater Lankan nation state! 

 

 

General Kable: These states were trying to secede even before there was a Western Coalition against the east. We only aided and embedded their agenda.  Besides, you fall ignorant on this little know fact about the “ingrazy” people. The ingrazy are master manipulators, they manipulate their own family for god’s sake. Did you not expect this to happen when going up against the west? The ingrazy’s did the same during India’s break for independence during the mid 20th century. They turned the Muslims and the Hindus against each other.  Did you not think that with India’s vast multi religious and cultural background, that I, along with the west were not going to exploit theses cultural-religious anxieties to our liken?  

 

 

Judge Rashwar: And so General Kable, where is your beloved western coalition now, were they not kind enough to extract you with themselves when the war was over?(General Kable turns to the jury and shrugs; he then smiles an embarrassing smile)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Let me tell you brothers and sisters what has happened to this man before he goes back to his wild tangets about the supposed evils of his home land. He was a top ranking general for the NATO forces, and like any western instrument, used until he was no longer needed and then thrown away to the dogs. After a cease fire was signed, the western coalition handed him over to us to be tried for war crimes. Am I not right general?

 

 

General Kable: Partially.

 

 

(The juror begins mumbling)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: Do not make me look like a liar in front of these men and women. Is that the truth or is it not?

 

 

General Kable: Oh no your honor, I would never say you are a liar, just ignorant of the facts. (Kable smiles and winks to the jurors. The jurors gasp. The Judge stands up, Irate.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: LOOK HERE YOU BABBLING BAFOON, I… (Is interrupted by Kable)

 

 

General Kable: You will hear a knock on the door shortly. There will be a man who out ranks you. He will give you strict instructions and you will obey them to the fullest of your knowledge. (The judge looks at Kable, baffled)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: What are you talking about?

 

 

General Kable: Well seeing that the Punjabis are forming alliances with the Pakistanis, I can guarantee you with a force strong enough; they will start cutting out pieces of India from the north. And if Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka are combining regimes, they will surly penetrate from the south and annex more of the subcontinent. Not to mention China’s excursion through Nepal. It seems what would be in the best interest of this new regime, would be to have a highly talented western educated General who would be more then capable of cleaning up this mess. Now where to find such a general? (Kable speaks with sarcasm. He kicks up his feet on the table and sits back in his chair with his head resting in his arms.)

 

(Knock! Knock! Knock! The room goes silent. The judge walks over to the door and a man stands behind it with a note in his hand.  The judge takes the note, shuts the door, and goes back to his desk where he reads it aloud.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: “On this date of our lord, 12th August, 2063, by the power invested in the new India Republic, I Gopi Ashrill, hereby declare General Kable acquitted on all charges and order him to be sent to the office of the ministry of war for further processing.”  Signed Gopi Ashrill, 2063.(Kable sits back in his chair with his eyes closed, smiling.) How did you know this would happen?

 

 

General Kable: Because politics is a dirty game my dear judge. You had said earlier, that like any western instrument, it was thrown to the dogs after used, well might I remind you Judge, one man’s trash is another mans treasure, or should I say that one mans trash is another dogs treasure?(The judge grows red in the face mad. Kable realigns his seating and lifts up his shackled wrists signaling for someone to unlock him. A guard with keys begins making his way over to General Kable.)

 

 

General Kable: NO! I want him to unlock me. (Signals to the judge)

 

(The judge gets up, and waddles over to Kable. He pulls out the key and begins to trying to unlock the contraption around Kables wrists.)

 

 

Judge Rashwar: (Whispers) how did you know this was going to happen?

 

 

General Kable: (Whispers) Dear judge, I can see you are man of honor and discipline. You believe in justice and nationality, and although these traits are characteristic of a good people to build a great nation, you forget one thing.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: And what is that, oh “Iron peacock?” (whispers sarcastically) 

 

 

General Kable: That although a nation may need the good, a nation must also need the ones who are acquainted with the evil. You are very keen on the law, no doubt, but you are very poor when it comes to slyness. Even after a gruesome war with India, do you really think it is in the West’s best interest for her to be in ruins? There was a reason I was left here after the cease fire. Consider me a gift form the west.

 

 

Judge Rashwar: So politics again survives on the back of justice, and the world keeps spinning. (The judge shakes his head.)

 

 

General Kable:  Indeed Good judge, indeed. (The shackles click open) Let’s go conquer the world again, shall we?