The stillness of the empty field - 2

Continuing from I follow the smell of death:

The stillness of the empty field is interrupted, the chatter on the sides gives way to silence. Two improbable looking men - intruders - emerge from the direction of the rising sun, headed towards the centre of the maidan. They are wearing striped pajamas, the uniform of the pagalkhana, the crazy house. They are holding hands, one leading the other. The skin of the man in front is painted blue. The man behind him is a sikh, his features barely visible beneath a tangled profusion of untamed hair. Having reached the middle, they halt and look at the assembled crowds. The sardar seems to be in an agitated state, his gestures are frantic. The blue man turns to him and starts speaking softly , and as the sardar listens he calms down visibly. Curious, but also uncertain, I slowly walk towards the two of them.

"What does it matter Arjun," the man is saying in his gentle voice, "that these people are your kinsmen? Yes, they are your friends and brothers, the brothers and husbands of your sisters and aunts, the fathers of your children's friends, your own teachers and childhood companions. They are of the same blood as you. Kill them all anyway."