The Terrorist

Hi ALL,

This is a short story which I wrote some time back. Just read this and if you have any comments please feel free to write them. So here goes the story

He woke up all drenched in sweat and his first reaction was to look around him in order to find out where he was. A quick glance around, and he knew exactly where he was and most importantly why. The nightmares seemed to be coming back. A few months back he was happy for the fact that the nightmares were no longer haunting him. He felt as if he had overcome his grief. But why all these nightmares today, when he was to accomplish his most important mission, till date.

He looked to his left and saw Mushtaak guarding his position. After all this was what they had been trained for, this was what they had yearned all their “enlightened” lives for. The commander’s orders were short and precise. They were supposed to “set” the road only after the last vehicle to ply on that road had left and that was at 11:30 the previous night. Now it was close to 4 in the morning and there were still 3 hours between them and their mission. Since sleep was now the last thing that he could do Kamraan’s mind raced back to recapture the events of the last week.

A week back, he like all his brethren was living in the “safe house” in Anantnag waiting for further instructions from the commander. When he woke up that fateful morning he found unusual activity in the house. He caught up with Mushtaak and asked him the reason for that activity in the house. Mushtaak had been his only friend despite the startling dissimilarities in their ages. While Kamraan was 39 Mushtaak was only 25. They had been together for the better part of the last 24 months whether that be during the orientation camp in Muzaffarabad in Azaad Kashmir or the time spent in the training camp on the outskirts of the city. Mushtaak told him that though he did not know much but from what he could gather it seemed that some important assignment was coming up and people from Azaad Kashmir will be visiting the commander soon to discuss the details.

They arrived at around 3 that afternoon. There were three of them and from the deference with which the commander treated them, Kamraan could make out that they were important people and something big was going to happen soon, yes soon. No pleasantries were exchanged, only firm handshakes. Once the refreshments had been served, the commander escorted them to one of the inner rooms of the house and locked the room from inside and only opened once in the next two hours when the commander called out the names of Kamraan and Mushtaak and instructed them to enter the room and closed it behind them.

He introduced the three gentlemen to Kamraan and Mushtaak who only nodded their heads and no attempt was made by neither the commander nor the three men to introduce them to Kamraan and Mushtaak. The commander did most of the talking while the three men listened casually. The commander informed Kamraan and Mushtaak that the most important moment of their lives has arrived, the one they had received all their training for. The freedom movement had suffered a few setbacks during the past months ever since the new IG of police had taken charge. But they would bounce back, as the will of the people could not be curbed for long, the commander informed them. The IG would have to pay the price for standing in the way of their independence, the commander told them. And God willing they would succeed. By this time Kamraan was thinking why the commander was telling him all this and what did he have to do with all this. As if reading his mind the commander said that it had been decided by the higher ups that the IG had to be killed and he had been asked to assign two of his top men for the job, and he had chosen him and Mushtaak for the job. The news hit Kamraan like a bullet, though he had never been hit by a real one at least till now. Mushtaak was elated and bent down to kiss the hand of the commander and Kamraan had no choice, but to follow suit. For the remaining part of their meeting the commander talked about the plan and said that he and Mushtaak would immediately start keeping an eye on the IG’s home and would study his security detail and would look for some loopholes in it.

It was 4 in the evening and two days after the little briefing by the commander that he saw her and could not move for the next few minutes. She had the most beautiful face that God could create for a human being . In fact it was a crime to compare her with humans, Kamraan thought, she was an angel. If Kashmir was the paradise on earth she was its angel. There she was all of 11 or 12 years, being wheeled around in her wheelchair around the garden by her father, IG Vishesh Sharma.

It was from that night onward that the nightmares came back. Those of the mosque burning and that of a little girl engulfed by flames and shouting “Help me Abbu Help me”. Then there were two other women besides her and one of them said to her“Don’t worry Alina your Abbu will surely come to save us”. And then two monsters came dressed up in combat uniforms and took all three of them away while he kept watching from his cage with his hands and legs chained and all that he could do was to cry and plead with those monsters but they would not listen and took them away. His whole family, his mother, his wife Rukhsana and his daughter of 10, Alina.

The day had been Eid and they were getting ready to go to the mosque to offer prayers. All of them were dressed in their best clothes, his mother, his wife, he himself but the thunder was stolen by his daughter Alina looking gorgeous and graceful in her white dress which he had bought as a present for her. Just as they were about to reach the mosque Kamraan recalled that he had forgot to bring his purse and had no money and since they had plans to go shopping after the prayer and there was still time left for the prayer to start he decided to rush back home and get the purse. He told his family to go inside the mosque but little Alina asked “Abbu can I come with you I feel scared without you” at which he laughed and replied “ You are a strong girl, Alina and who will take care of your Ammi and grandma if you leave them” Reluctantly Alina agreed to stay back. He was leaving his home after taking his purse that he first heard the sound of blast and the firing that followed it. People in some other part of the world often confuse the sound of bomb blast with that of crackers and that of bullets being fired with bursting of tyres, but not here in Kashmir, here people knew when a bomb exploded or a bullet was fired. So, on hearing the explosion he rushed to the mosque but could not reach there as he was stopped midway by the security forces who had cordoned off the area. He was helpless he was watching the mosque burn in front of him, his entire family inside it and he could not do anything. To his dismay the security people were the least bit interested in the safety of the people trapped inside the mosque and were more concerned about finding the terrorists and ensuring the safety of their own injured people.

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The house of IG, Vishesh Sharma was one of the most secure places in the entire valley. It was almost a fortress, Kamraan told the commander, whose security could not be breached. So there was no way of killing the IG inside his house. It had to be done outside. Almost all of it was true but what Kamraan didn’t tell the commander was the fact that he was not willing to kill the IG inside for the fear of harming his daughter who reminded him of Alina. So it was decided to lay a trap for the IG when he left his home on Saturday to inspect the nearby towns and villages. It was decided that an IED would be fixed on the road and as soon as the IG’s car reached it would be detonated and that would be the end of IG Vishesh Sharma. Since Mushtaak had received training in setting up IED’s he was assigned the task of laying the explosive. It was imperative to identify the vehicle in which the IG was travelling and in order to make sure that no mistake was made in this regard the commander assigned the task of triggering the explosive to Kamraan. He was supposed to identify the vehicle in which the IG was traveling on the basis of his surveillance and trigger the explosion which would put an end to the unholy schemes of the IG.

Vishesh Sharma was 45 and was leading a happy and peaceful life with his wife and 12 year old daughter Astha in Bhubaneshwar when he received his transfer orders for Jammu and Kashmir. Initially he was reluctant to go there but had agreed to go there once Astha expressed her willingness to visit Kashmir. Astha was born with a healthy body and mind and was a very cheerful kid and was loved a lot by her parents Vishesh and Gunjan Sharma. It was at the age of eight that Astha while getting off her school bus was run down by the rear wheel of the bus when a truck hit the bus from the back. From then onwards their lives changed completely. Astha was crippled from waist down and was confined to bed and needed someone to move her around in her wheelchair and could not live her life properly after that. But she was a strong willed child and tried her best to make it less traumatic for her parents. On their part her parents tried to make it as comfortable for her as they could and tried to fulfill each and every wish of hers.

“Wake up Kamraan” shouted Mushtaak. “Yes” replied Kamraan. “You better be ready its 6 already and the IG’s cavalcade would be here in about an hour. I have already set up the IED and the trigger is lying there behind that tree under the leaves. We don’t want to blow up this chance do we! Kamraan said” You don’t worry. Allah willing we will succeed”.

Vishesh Sharma was getting ready for his weekly visit to the nearby towns which had become his schedule ever since he had been posted here. As he was putting on his cap and his service revolver Astha came into the room wheeled by the maid servant who was told to leave politely by Astha. Astha said “Dad, where are you going?”. “I am going to the nearby cities for inspection, honey I will be back by evening”, Vishesh replied. “Don’t go, daddy please don’t go”. “Why honey, its important, I have to go but I promise to be back before dinner”. With that he kissed her on the cheek and left the room.

As soon as he saw the IG coming Syed opened the door of the bulletproof car. He saluted the IG and Vishesh entered the car and ordered the driver to start. The cavalcade consisted of a pilot vehicle, two police vans with 10 commandos in each, the IG’s bulletproof ambassador and the rear was brought up by another van in which Syed was sitting along with 4 other constables.

As soon as he saw the cavalcade approaching Yusuf signaled to Kamraan who was sitting behind the tree with the trigger in his hand. He saw the pilot vehicle crossing the point where the IED was set up. Following it were the two police vans and when the ambassador carrying the IG came Kamraan though fully aware that the IG’s car was bulletproof dropped the trigger and started firing indiscriminately at the cavalcade. Other terrorists thinking that the IED had failed to trigger joined Kamraan in firing at the cavalcade. The commandos though a bit taken aback by the sudden firing immediately regrouped and took up positions behind the vehicles and the IG’s car was taken to a safe spot some distance away and was guarded by the team of constables.

Vishesh sat in his car listening to the shots being fired in the background. As much as he wanted to be at the scene of action he knew enough about the security procedures and therefore stayed in the car. About 25 minutes later a commando came to his car to inform him that 4 of the 5 terrorists involved in the attack had been killed and one had escaped the scene and a massive combing operation was underway to locate him.

Vishesh left his car to see the bodies of the terrorists. When he went to the body of the fourth terrorist after seeing the first three, he found something in the palm. When he bent down in order to see what it was he found that it was the photograph of a young girl of about the same age as Astha. He said a silent prayer for the dead terrorist lying in front of him and headed back to home to meet his daughter Astha.