to make entries in his register scrupulously . . . and then people used to come and buy their provisions out of this . . . those people trusted us so much. In return, however, the Sikhs did not extend the same kind of trust to the Muslims. They practised the customary untouchability of Hindus towards Muslims, refusing to eat anything cooked or touched by them. In Bir Bahadur’s words: If there was any function that we had, then we used to call Musalmaans to our homes, they would eat in our houses, but we would not eat in theirs and this is a bad thing, which I realize now. If they would come to
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