Warrior of Faith -A short story
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 he long-range extra-wide-bodied jet Airbus A380 from Frankfurt landed well past midnight at Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi, about 20 minutes behind schedule. The aircraft taxied to the terminal via the newly laid taxi track specifically designed for the jet and while taxiing the pilot carried out all the mandatory post landing checks to ensure that the craft was in good health for its return journey home. It was guided on to the ramp with the help of specially designed apron guidance nose-in system. After docking with the aero-bridge the pilot switched off the engines and reported to the base operations on his radio that all parameters of the jet were functioning properly and signed off. The cabin crew assisted the passengers out through the aero-bridge exit and wished the passengers to fly again with the airline. Soon all of the crewmembers disembarked from the craft and it was taken over by the ground crew who would go through the procedure of offloading, cleaning and then reloading the aircraft with the outbound load prior to the embarkation of the departing passengers. In the briefing rooms the outgoing flying crew ascertained the enroute flight and weather conditions. The departing passengers were going through the preflight procedure of security, immigration and customs check. Even though the flight was scheduled to depart at 0230 hrs, it was evident that there would be a delay of about 30 minutes due to the late arrival of aircraft. The food containers were being loaded for about 400 passengers who were in the check-in and boarding process already. Among them was Bashir Ahmed, a Pakistani national who would be traveling today in the disguise of Altaf Bin Haider, a Saudi national.It was a Thursday and the people in Delhi were preparing for the Id festival next day on Friday, after the reported moon sighting, when prayers would be held at all the mosques all across the city. Bashir had arrived by road a couple of months earlier from across Nepal, crossing the Indo-Nepal border clandestinely. In his escapade it was an Indian national who helped him reach Delhi and passed on to him the passport and other documents that he would need to board the flight at Delhi for Frankfurt after his work was completed. For onward travel he would use his original documents. He rewarded the Indian with a bagful of fake disposable Indian currency amounting to Rupees one million in denomination of 500 and 1000 that Bashir carried in a duffle bag with him as a routine input for the Indian economy. During his stay Bashir had successfully engineered and supervised a series of bombings in three Indian states with the help of sleeper cells who went into hiding soon after. The killing of a few innocents had not in the least troubled him and no remorse showed on his face as he prepared to board his flight in the early morning hours of Friday. Insha-allah he would celebrate Id with his family and friends at Lahore. He had bookings from Frankfurt to Dubai and from Dubai to Lahore on the same day on different carriers. For the family he would have completed a successful business trip. Allah (peace be unto him) was very kind with Bashir. He calculated his time arrival at Lahore to be 2100 hrs, Pakistan time, and well at dinnertime when he would eat with the family once again after a long break. He only prayed that there are no delays in the flight schedules at either Frankfurt or Dubai. He knew he would not face any problems at his home soil as he arrived from Dubai as a well-known businessman. There was no reason for anyone to suspect that he was in fact a man of severe religious reservations. He had received his education in a public school of repute at Lahore and had graduated in the arts stream in a first division. He decided to join the business that his father had established in the export of spices worldwide. He got married at an early age to the niece of his mother and had a beautiful relationship with his wife whom he adored. He had two children, a son and a daughter, both of them following the footsteps of their father in his being a devout Muslim and an intellectual. Bashir attended the Friday prayers regularly, but had no time to go to the mosque to say his prayer five times a day. In reality his prayers were not written anywhere in the holy book. Bashir’s viewpoint of life changed drastically with the aftermath of the world situation post September 11, when two aircraft collided with the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City within the span of a few minutes. He figured that Muslims had suddenly become targets of hate and hunt. It enraged him to see that the actions of a few wayward people should be reason enough for denigrating Islam, which was the faith of the believers worldwide. That his future actions will be an unacceptable Islamic tradition did not register in his mind and he decided to take revenge in whatever form he could. His views reached the right quarters and he was contacted to become an elite member of the club. He received training in the art of making bombs and supporting terror activities, that he aptly called “Jehad”. He found his brothers and sisters across the border as soft targets and designed bomb strikes at many places. His modus operandi was to sniff out the place prior to an attack and arrange placement of bombs at strategic locations. These bombs were assembled using locally available material. He was always successful in his attempts and soon got the title “green flag” from his admirers. Vidhya Sharma had another tiresome day, having had to do her home shopping besides her normal household chores, and then preparing for the evening meals. She was at least happy that the next day she did not have to get up early morning to prepare breakfast and lunch all together for children who had a day off from school due to Id festival. But her husband may not enjoy that benefit, as he seemed to be on duty all the time. He had even called earlier on to say that he may get late for dinner. She knew that all the men in the police department were all alike when it came to their work schedule. However, Satish was in the higher rank and was in the crime branch where his work profile was kind of erratic. Sometimes he would not return home all night. Later when she received another call from him that he would not return immediately did she realize that this could be another night out for him. Deputy Superintendent of Police Crime Branch, Satish Sharma, closed the file and looked up to the Police Commissioner for his comments. Satish had been busy last two weeks sifting the evidence collected after the bomb blasts across three cities and interrogating about a hundred people. He was closing in on to the suspect and had his act cut out for the final action. His cue came with a phone call from the airport that he was expecting for the last several days. His orders received he departed for the airport in his police vehicle with a posse of six other officers. The sirens blazing all through the route it still took his convoy about 40 minutes to reach the airport. He had no difficulty in reaching the immigration counter where his colleagues indicated that the suspect had cleared his check in and was waiting in the departure hall for final boarding. Little did anyone realize that the boarding was being further delayed just for the reason that a terror suspect was in the process of being apprehended. This was done so that the suspect does not get jittery and harm any one in the process. Satish and his companions were in civil dress and had to flash their identity at all the entry points to gain admission in the high security areas. Once inside the departure concourse they located their suspect without difficulty and found him sipping at a cup of coffee. It seemed he had temporarily lowered his guard. Bashir was enjoying his coffee and wondered at the stupidity of the Indian Immigration and the security system having failed to identify his fake credentials as a passenger but at the same time he was all praise for his organization to have masterminded the travel document. He was, however, alert and his eyes were constantly scrutinizing every detail and movement around him. Having finished his coffee he kept his only baggage, a stroller, close to his chair and closed his eyes for a moment waiting for the boarding announcement. He felt sleepy and tired and longed to be back home with his family and assume his normal lifestyle once again. He suddenly opened his eyes when he heard a chair creek on his left side. The person sitting in did not disturb his thought until he realized that the man carried no baggage and certainly did not look like a traveling passenger. He made an attempt to get up and go to another chair when he found his hands in a solid grip and handcuffs slipping on to his wrist. He knew then it was all over. For a long time nobody moved and no one noticed the enactment of an arrest being made. He heaved a sigh of relief at all this concluding drama he long expected would come one day. Today was the fateful day. His time was over. As the announcement for departure was made every passenger started to move towards the boarding gate and filed out through a security cordon where boarding cards were verified before allowing anyone to move any further. Bashir looked at the slowly diminishing line of passengers and wished he were ahead of them all. When the departure hall was empty Bashir was quietly escorted out towards the rear exit from where he was taken to a waiting police van on the tarmac. Not many words were exchanged between the arresting officials and the criminal all through the procedure other than an added cold stare from the police escorts. Bashir was taken to the interrogation station at the police headquarters and it would be a long time before charges would be framed against him and justice provided as per the Indian law. He knew that and with a disheartened smile on his face he asked the police officer if he could make a call to his wife in Lahore. He would after all not be able to celebrate Id with the family today or ever. Vidhya had fitfully slept through the night as she always did when Satish was out on his job during a night operation. She started her day early even though children did not have to go to school. She had her mind occupied with many thoughts and was now preparing for her second cup of morning tea when the door bell disturbed her thought process and she rushed towards the door to see who came calling early morning. She found Satish at the door, who smilingly asked her to let him in. He hugged her and requested for a cup of tea. He looked tired though relaxed in his face expressions and Vidhya knew all was well. It is Id today and we need to celebrate, said Satish. Wake up the kids and let us go party. |
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At present residing at Delhi with frequent visits to the US and Europe where his kith and kin reside. Has interest in writing. |
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B. L. Dhar was born and educated at Srinagar. Did Master's degree in Mathematics. Took up appointment with the Civil Aviation Sector of the G.O.I. as a gazzetted officer and later joined the PSU, Airports Authority of India (AAI) from where he retired as General Manager in 2000.