However, Raghav had faced some conflicts with the fundamentalists. In a few places Raghav had issues with the Muslim clerics where they refused to pay back loans as they claimed that paying interest was against Islamic law. Pointing to the numerous affected regions Raghav said,
“It is easier to apply eugenic principles to the raising of race horses or prize cattle then to the development of human beings. The problems with Muslims clerics in the outskirts of the cities are a repeat of what Hindu fundamentalists are doing inside the cities. Such activities are on the rise since the 1980’s.”
Raghav looked at the board which comprised mostly of Hindus and continued, “Although the ultra right would like us to believe that family values and culture disintegrate because of the secular education and sexual liberation , the consensus among economists and sane minded people is that what tore apart the social fabric were unemployment, inflation and financial worries.”
Raghav continued, “Being part of this industry, we are trying to achieve the other half and these fundamentalists will always be a problem for us.”
In the next presentation Raghav showed the images of the slums to present the impact of their business by showcasing different scenarios. He said,
“Sometimes I could not make out anything of the verbiage made by the modern leaders speaking about the glorified present. I just wonder what is glorified in living in these conditions in the slums.”
The whole leadership team started laughing at pictures of the slums where Raghav played an animated version of the leaders behind it shouting slogans of Shining India.
“This is going to be a big problem for us. I have asked help from a friend of mine who is a lawyer. He has filed writ petitions against the wrongdoings of the fundamentalists in the slums. The continuance of the riots and the religious conversions are making people move away from places where they have been living for many years.”
Raghav looked at the crowd to make sure that what he had said did not get lost and continued. “Most of these people belong to the lower castes. The existing welter due to the presence of such fundamentalist oppressions cried for new form of reform in the legal systems to protect the rights of the minority. But it is evident that this is not going to happen”.
Raghav looked at the team again and saw that they were worried. He knew there was a reason to for this and continued, “We see the rift growing strong between the fundamentalists and the Maoists and soon the faceoff will be happening in these poor regions of the society. It’s also a pity that such clairvoyant warnings by many intellectuals about the rise of Maoism due to such practices are not being heeded by fundamentalists and citizens alike. These intellectuals have a nuisance value and nothing more.”
He knew there was no easy answer but the purpose of the meeting was to build up enthusiasm. Raghav continued,
“Being a for-profit organization we have alienated ourselves from the other leftist organizations in the country. They see the state of penury as an opportunity to showcase their propaganda. On the other hand our working area is a fertile ground for the fundamentalists who baited the terrified youths in the slums in joining them and made them part of anti-social experiments they conducted. I have many times admonished the fundamentalists that their steps will lead to utter chaos which is not good given the situation of the world economy but they couldn't care less.”
“On seeing both sides of the coin and given the helplessness of dealing with the situation, I sometimes want to give up on my religious and political views and become an apostate. But that’s not realistic and we have to plan our next year’s activities keeping in view the present scenario in the country.”
Raghav now presented his next slide which focused on the following year’s projections and continued,
“The truth of any business is that the investors are only interested in getting returns and reaching out to more and more customers. Under these conditions if we attack our targets directly we would be definitely affronted with charges of corruption and misappropriation of funds by many of these fundamentalist leaders. They would also find out about the support we offer the Maoists. We could ask them to mind their own business, while expecting them to be rational; it will prove us wrong. So we need to slow down which means our loan books will not fill up as quickly as in previous years.”
Next, he paused to check on the members of the audit and the credit teams and then continued. “You need to keep your books updated all the time for any surprise audit may jump on us anytime. On the other hand as the Maoists will be crushed they will go back to the old theories that NGO’s and rural development measures are responsible for their not being able to achieve a macro Bolshevik revolution. They will try to create problems for us in the field too.” The audit team nodded in agreement.
He looked at the marketing team and said, “We will not try to go deep inside the Maoist affected areas to expand our business. For all the loss of business in this region, we would try to compensate it by opening new branches. For the time being we will keep the incentives the same for the next six months so that you guys don’t get affected”. The marketing team clapped at the CEO’s decision.
Raghav could not offer anything more and as a concluding remark Raghav said, “It was largely due to the impact of the microfinance and self-help groups, that the effects of the Hindu fundamentalists and the Maoists were kept at bay and prevented from affecting the rural fabric of many regions in the country. But now times have certainly changed and we need to be very careful about the new development.”
2.6: The Ambush
After the start of the bloody assaults against the Maoist leaders and their activities, Raghav's writing against the fundamentalists had become more voluble expressing concern for their incontinent behavior of destroying their own civilians. Raghav’s views were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of truculence against the government.
It was quite evident from his writings that Raghav was getting impatient by the constant transgression of law attempted by the fundamentalist leaders. He insisted through his writings that their lunatic actions could not have any excuse whatsoever and should be discontinued.
By this time the fundamentalists had also amplified their experiments on society by targeting the lower class people and segregating them. Raghav was getting constant reports of such activities from his field staff and it was affecting his business. There seemed to be a revolution out there and the fundamentalist’s vacuous remarks about bringing changes in the society for a better future annoyed him all the more.
What nagged him the most was the fact that the fundamentalists performed these experiments on the pretext that their actions were in conjugation with the propitious image of the glorified Vedic era of the past. Never have historians been able to prove the existence of all gods but the fundamentalists have learnt the skill of controlling the minds of the people on religious grounds.
On top of that, the Maoists made the terrible mistake of separating their religion from its philosophy and because of that they could hardly succeed. In the sudden increase in the actions of the Special Task Force, Raghav started following the circumstances under which some of the comrades and some respectable individuals who merely sympathized with the Maoists had fallen. He could ascribe no motive for the type of acts committed against some respectable individuals and could not understand why the government was bent on carrying out such attacks.
In response to the government atrocities, Raghav started publishing in his blogs the biographies and activities of individuals who had fallen. The intelligence agencies began to get irritated by Simon’s writing. Raghav’s work was winning sympathies for the victims from the public and thus making them martyrs. This was something that the government was not going to tolerate at any cost.
In a move to ruin Raghav’s career, the government agencies tried to target Raghav’s company. They tried to pull in auditors to find mistakes in the balance sheets but everything was perfect. The government even tried to
threaten their investors but Raghav was still able to manage the necessary funds though his business was getting affected. In a desperate attempt to ruin his career the intelligence agencies exposed Simon in his blog as being Raghav who ran the micro-finance agency. This misadventure of intelligence agencies backfired and people who had been following Simon on the web, developed an extra respect for the commendable job his company had been performing for the poor. He was instantly reckoned as a hero and a patriot over the web. Now the government couldn’t eradicate him for then he would surely die a martyr.
Raghav had often written against the theocracy of Hindu fundamentalism. He had become very popular over the web and all efforts from intelligence agencies were futile. The attempts to bring down the source of funding had also got rejected by the lobby of investors whose interests were in a profitable organization that could provide employment to many people.
The government thought that there should be some way to neutralize Raghav as he was becoming more dangerous each day. The prime minister suggested that they should consult Guruji about what needed to be done about Raghav. During a meeting at the PMO with the intelligence head the Prime Minister said,
“We will take the question to Guruji during the prayer meeting in the evening.”
The prayer meeting was presided over by an aged seated individual in saffron attire. Kunal Chaurasia or Guruji as called by his devotees delivered his sermons from a hastily improvised lectern with his disciples sitting around him. After the ceremony the Prime Minister requested him to provide a solution to the menace created by Raghav. A man of few words Kunal Chaurasia said,
“He should be brought down as part of some conspiracy so that no fingers point at us.”
No one in the political arena ever objected to Kunal Chaurasia. “I know about Raghav and his work. Raghav has become an eminent political character. Let him enjoy his new role as political analysts over the web. Getting him out of the political scenario of India would be disastrous for the government. But there is a way.”
The prime minister keenly listened to what Guruji had to offer. “What if the blame fell upon the rebels? We should build up a plot to bring Raghav to our side. Let him take up the role of the negotiator between the government and Naxals in the peace process we initiated. Then we will take him down and defame him.”
The chief of Intelligence Bureau who was standing next to the prime minister said, “Sir, Raghav’s sympathy for the Maoists are not established as he seemed to have even spoken against them too. It is not very sure that he would want to be part of a government delegation to negotiate a truce between Maoists and the government.”
He continued “Even if we recruit Raghav, he will have a pretty hard time maintaining amicable relationships with some comrades. Many times he has written that he did not adhere to the wrong means followed by these individuals. It seems that he has also written against insurgent activities in his blogs and the rebels hate also him.”
Guruju replied, “Considering the fame he is enjoying these days Raghav will have no option but to accept the offer. We have to provide the offer on a platter over the web. In this process the government will have to face some criticism bear the burden of being the one to blame, accepting the wrongdoing.” Prime minister was still watching...
Guruji continued, “It will be really difficult to dupe Raghav to fall into this trap and so we need to make a meticulous plan of execution.” Guruji looking at the intelligence chief and said,
“You should use all the resources you require to make Raghav fall for our bait. And use Captain Chauhan to plan the ambush but don’t tell him about Raghav. Just tell him that this is a political killing.”
Captain Chauhan was a veteran of many strikes by now against the Maoists and understood the mode of operations of the insurgents. His patriotism towards the state was unquestionable.
In the next move the chief of intelligence honey trapped one of the investors in Raghav’s company and forced him to persuade Raghav to agree to the negotiations. Being a colleague from Yale he was able to make Raghav believe that the negotiations would be better for the company and the investors. But Raghav had suspicions about the government role in this offer. Raghav knew that he had incurred the animosity of the ruling class for he advocated the limitations of their power.
On the other hand, he thought that he was the most unlikely character to be ascribed with this responsibility. The investor explained that the government wanted to improve their public ratings and thus wanted Raghav to help them do so. Still Raghav hesitated to assume the unwonted role of the negotiator of the deal between the government and the leftists, but he had to do something to keep the investors happy.
The government offered him the role of a chief negotiator on the pretext that he was neutral. Raghav wondered whether he had enough clout to be admitted as the role of chief negotiator but because of all the fame he had been getting in the media recently, Raghav could not sense the plot. Guruji has effectively put the right people to take Raghav down.
Captain Chauhan meticulously designed the ambush and artificial scenarios designed made Raghav realize the seriousness of the negotiations. The whole operation was planned in advance. Special Task Force commandos dressed as government dignitaries met Raghav as part of the team that would negotiate the peace process and picked him up from his home.
Raghav had at first his doubts about seriousness of mission when he talked to the head of the dignitaries. This individual had a typical nasal accent. When he laughed the air passed loudly through his nose and it seemed as if he whinnied. None of these characteristics could be related to a good negotiator. He thought that such individuals are suited best for the role of comedians; but ironically here he represented the government whom he mocked in all his blogs.
But he thought the presence of such individuals might be an act of nepotism or bribery. The second suspicion came when Raghav was explained the meticulous plan of negotiation with the Maoists. Such a disciplined approach towards a peace process seemed out of the blue and probably could be the handiwork of the military. He could not yet explain to himself why a government would be so interested in truce when they had marketed violence all the time but had no choice but to comply.
The team told him that the government wanted a neutral individual to be part of a confidence building measure targeting the intellectual segment of the society that had recently become alienated; Raghav was just right for that role. Raghav did not trust a single word of the government team but now he had no option but to go along with the flow.
The meeting point was an old camping ground of the National Cadet Corps in a very remote location in the jungles of Western ghats in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka. The camp was near Kudremukh iron ore campus which lay as a ghost town after mining was banned in the region by UNESCO. The forests around the Kudremukh region were infested with Naxals and local tribes. It was almost evening when Raghav reached the vicinity of the ghost town.
He came out of the jeep and was instantly mesmerized by the beauty of the forests of the Western Ghats. On his left he could see a turquoise-blue stream emerging from a beautiful waterfall. Bubbling and burbling, it sprung over the lignite rocks. Pebbles strewn about by the under wash glittered like jewels. These streams are the souls of the tropical rainforest and with the sun going down, the chords of soft light speared down from above, bathed its surface in gold.
With dusk falling he saw sparkling fireflies like a thousand diamonds blessed with an inner fire dancing over the stream. He enjoyed the bliss of Nature. Next to the spring he saw the majestic beast – the Indian Bison (Gaur) drinking water. The biggest animal in India after the elephants, the Gaur, is strong and massively built with a high convex ridge on the forehead between the horns. It also has a prominent crest on its back. To Raghav it seemed that the gaur was trying to communicate with him trying to warn him about something. Its bovine eyes were telling Raghav that he was a misfit both by forest and government standards. Raghav politely a
cknowledged that. They kept maintaining eye contact, when suddenly the sound of other members jumping from the jeep scared the bison. It jumped over the stream and vanished in the thick groves leaving Raghav puzzled. They had to spend the night in an abandoned school in the ghost city.
When Raghav reached the next location - another abandoned school, the affected mannerisms and accents of the guards with an air of secrecy around them made Raghav suspicious about this place. The meeting was scheduled the following morning in a large tent in the middle of the school ground where Raghav was told that representatives from the Maoists would be joining. Next morning Raghav went into the tent alone and the proceedings of the next fifteen minutes made Raghav more suspicious; he feared a trap.
Suddenly truck loads of men jumping in their boots took up positions near the tent. After a while, Raghav was now certain that some people he had trusted all his life has betrayed him to walk into this trap. Just then a group of men in scantily dressed khakhi uniforms were pushed inside the tent where Raghav was waiting. Raghav could see the telltale marks of torture on their faces and bodies; there was fear in their eyes. Now it was clear that he had been lured into an ambush.
THE MYSTIC: PART I - THE SEEKER (Part 1 - THE SEEKER) Page 5