Hukum Chand: The Corrupt Commissioner
"An hour later a large gray American car rolled in. An orderly stepped out of the front and opened the rear door for his master. The sub inspector and the policemen came to attention and saluted. The villagers moved away to a respectful distance. The bearer opened the wire gauze door leasing to the main bed-sitting room. Mr. Hukum Chand, magistrate and deputy commissioner of the district, heaved his corpulent frame out of the car...." (Singh 18)
Hukum Chand is one of the main protagonist in Train to Pakistan. As the deputy commissioner of the district, he has many responsibilities such as visiting villages and towns in his district to evaluate the performance of the local Police and also help the Police force with their local duties by giving his wisdom and suggestions. When Hukum Chand comes to Mano Majra, the town that the book is set at, to help Subinspector Sahib and his force with the ongoing Muslim-Hindu-Sikh tension. However, despite the fact that he is a man of great position and power, Hukum Chand commits immoral things under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The stress of the position he is in, the expectations that people have for him, and the death of drugs drives him to constantly numb himself with drugs and alcohol. His part of the story does not really focus on his job and what he does around the town but rather more of a monologue of his daily problems and stresses.
Hukum Chand played by Mohan Agashe in the theatrical release of Train to Pakistan. (courtesy of IMDB.com)
