Part 006 - PAMPHLET 001 006

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I laid a wreath in the centre of the memorial, and observed a solemn two minutes' silence, which was what I thought all that is best among the British people would expect me to do. From there we went to the Golden Temple, the most famous and sacred shrine of the Sikh population of the Punjab. I was wel- comed by the vice-chairman of the organisation, and then taken round the temple by a Sikh gentleman. I was presented with a scarf and two religious symbols, and I must be one of the few foreigners who have been taken into the innermost parts of the temple and shown the jewels, gold and pearls whose value no one can compute. My greatest and never-to-be-forgotten thrill was when I was intro- duced to the veteran Indian comrade Baba Sohan Singh. He is 83 years of age, 35 of which have been spent in Indian prisons. Bent almost double through the effects of imprisonment and hunger strikes, as I looked at him I thought how little in Britain we know of sacrifice for the cause. Amritsar gave the impression in parts of having been subject to heavy bombing. On making inquiries I found what I had seen was the result of the Communal Riots caused by the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. I was told that it was estimated that nearly a million people of all religions lost their lives in this regrettable dispute, and because Amritsar is only 16 miles from the Pakistan border, and there was a flow of refugees both ways, its loss of life and property had been very heavy indeed. From there to a great demonstration in Amritsar. There were many thousands present, and what a sight it was! All squatting on the ground as far as the eye could see. The tall, handsome bearded men, with their multi-coloured turbans, the women in their beautiful dresses. A sword was presented to me—the highest honour of all to any- one visiting the Punjab. I hope my speech made the comrades feel their respect worth while. I listened to a play about life in the countryside and the struggle against landlords and money-lenders, which was splendidly performed Had dinner very late and then to the hotel, dead beat but very happy. Punjab the Valley of the Five Rivers—partition means that the Indian part has only two of these rivers now. But what lovely country it is, and how proud its citizens are they belong to it, and how sorry they are it has been divided. December 18. UP TP with the lark, after a very, very cold night, but as fresh as a daisy. Addressed a meeting of all the leading members of the Communist Party in the district on the situation in Britain and the work of our Party. 10 About 200 present. Then paid a visit to the offices of the Party paper, again garlanded, and then a visit to the Party offices. The comrades begged me to cancel my other engagements so as to visit Kashmir. Oh, what inducements they held out to me! The finest garden in all the world! What a welcome I would get! I nearly fell for all this seduction, but, being a strong-willed per- son, kept humming to myself: Pale hands I loved, Beside the Shalimar; Where are you now, Where are you now? This brought noon, and we were off to Amritsar once again. Got there rather late. Left Amritsar at 5 p.m. and arrived at Delhi Airport at 6.30 p.m. Met by the comrades. An excellent dinner in the Volga Restaurant, and then what do you think happened? I got into a jeep (I noticed it gloried in the new name of Land Rover) and we did some roving, I can assure you. We left Delhi at 8 p.m. for the 125-mile drive to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is situated. What a drive and what dust! I mustn't repeat here a rather vulgar saying about dust, but I assure you that when the Land Rover pulled up outside the Taj Mahal at 11.50 p.m. precisely, you could not see either the driver, my two interpreters or myself for dust. Anyhow, here we were, and another dream of my boyhood days now about to be realised. We were about to see the Taj Mahal in the light of an almost full moon, and the guide books had told me this was when it ought to be seen in all "its irresistible beauty." We entered the portals of the outer building, and there before my eyes was the Taj Mahal! I have not the command of language or the poetical expression to describe this scene. All I can say is that it just took my breath away to gaze on such a scene of extraordinary loveliness. Never, never, as long as I live, will I ever forget it. Slowly we walked down the majestic marble path to the Taj Mahal. We went all round it. Our guides explained its history. But I seemed to have lost the power of listening. I could only gaze spellbound at all this exquisite loveliness. At last we tore ourselves away. Went back to Agra, found a hotel, and at 2 o'clock decided it was time for bed—but not without the resolve that having seen the Taj Mahal by moonlight, we would see it in sunlight also the next morning. December 19. Ο NCE more emulating the lark, we were up and about early, and on our way to the Taj Mahal again, but instead of being greeted by larks, we found a man playing his pipes outside the hotel, and persuading a great cobra to go through its dancing performance. 11