by AJAY
The emergency siren went off inside the machine room, resulting in chaos and panic all around. The control room Manager asked his deputy to check the extent of damage at the inlet gate. The Deputy came into the machine room. He ran back to inform the Manager that the machine area had flooded.
In a few minutes, the frequency of the oscillating waves synchronized with the frequency of the dam. The unique hollow structure in the dam echoed with a groaning, humming sound, magnifying with each passing second. The occasional rumbling beneath the bottom of the dam sounded as if some fearful giant of the netherworld was angry because he had been rudely awakened from his long slumber.
This unusual voice from the deep was caught by the teleseismometers, the modern seismograph instrument and the accelerograph and fed as data to the control room. Ironically, there was no one to take note of this frightening bar on the monitor, which had already entered the red zone since the Manager of Operations had ordered evacuation of the Hydel Station.
"Go back, Aban."Imran Malik shouted, torn between an overwhelming desire to run and hug his son in his arms and push him out of the way of the horrifying danger that he faced.
"I won't, Abba."
"Don't come any further. It's too dangerous."
Aban reached his father. Between laboured breaths, he said, "What on earth are you doing, Abba? Try to understand the consequences of your actions. The magnitude of the disaster would be beyond anybody's comprehension. Not only millions, but billions of precious lives will be lost."
"Let doomed and damned be their destiny."
"No, Abba, no. Why do we forget that we are one? Our culture has evolved from the same roots. Our way of living has not changed for centuries. It is the pain of partition that has parted our hearts. Just like two brothers fall out over trifling issues and keep drifting further and further apart from each other, so have we. All this because neither is willing to forgive and forget. Yet, we are one and for generations to come are sure to tide over these differences because each of us is now tired of fighting futile wars, which simply create pain and more pain on both sides. Our destinies are intertwined. If they die, we die too."
"It pains, my son. It is always painful. Pain has left a scar on me, which no one can remove, not even I, even if I want to. It is unbearable. I cannot overcome it."
"What scar, Abba? What pain are you talking about?"A perplexed Aban asked his father, who seemed to wear a strange glint in his eyes.
"This may be the last time that we meet. So, I will tell you the whole story. The wave will not return for the next forty minutes. I have ample time to tell you. I know your Ammi must have told you the story of the 1971 War between Pakistan and Hindustān and the trauma I faced when the Hindustāni Army captured me and sent me to Alipore Central Jail as a POW. One day, I got into a long discussion with the Jailor to grant us the rights of a POW as per the Geneva Convention. The jailor was a kind man. He listened compassionately and promised to do his best. Unfortunately, he was transferred from the jail. A few months later, with the cessation of the war, the Hindustāni Government decided to return the POWs to Pakistan as per the Simla agreement. I was a proud solider, who wanted to go back to my country and serve my Army once again."
The story continued:
"However, someone, who was up to mischief, removed my name from the Jail roll. After that, my name or prisoner-number was never called out during the attendance roll call by the jail authorities. When I became suspicious and asked the administrators for a reason, they would just get away with a promise to rectify the mistake. Days turned into months and I waited and waited. One day, Hindustāni Army trucks arrived to take back the POWs to Pakistan. I offered Namaz, thanking Allah for giving me a reason to live. I smoothed out the crease on my jail uniform, so that I could look as presentable as possible when I returned to my watan after such a long time. The minutes went ticking by as I waited expectantly, but no one called my name or came to open my cell. When I heard the last truck labour its way out, away from the Jail, I knew they were not coming back ever."
Aban's father heaved as he continued:
"That same night, another vehicle came. Before I could understand what was happening, four people bound and gagged me and bundled me off into the van. Sleep overcame me. I woke up when somebody opened the backdoor of the van. I had been handed over to the extremists of Bangladesh. These merciless savages took me into the deep forest of Rangamati, the eastern part of Bangladesh. They tortured me for four long years, asking me to give them sensitive details of Pakistani Army and intelligence. I never uttered a word against my country. My answer to their every question was that Hindustān had cut my country into two."
Aban listened intently to his father's words:
"One dark night, six people came and tied my hands and wrists. They threw me on the ground. One of them took out a knife from his pocket while another pulled off my trouser and undergarments. The former laughed and said since you had only one answer that Hindustān has cut your country into two parts, today I'll cut you into two parts. I closed my eyes, praying to Allah to forgive my sins. I was not scared of dying. But I could not bear the pain when he cut off one of my testicles and the last thing that I heard before fainting was a cruel laughter."
Aban was shell-shocked. He came closer to his father, hugged him and put his arms around his shoulder. Tears welled up in Imran's eyes while he continued, "People talked with a lot of interest about an almost forgotten historical fact about Adolf Hitler. A Soviet doctor, who performed an autopsy on Hitler, revealed many years later that Hitler suffered from monorchism, the medical condition of having only one testicle. His photographs bear testimony to the fact that whenever he participated in the rallies and his marching army shouted 'Heil'; Hitler would snap into attention and raise one arm to take the stiff armed salute. But his other hand would unconsciously slip down to his crotch, as though he was trying to hide something. This posture of his became the butt of ridicule, but it is only people like me, who can understand the agony that such a deformity can cause. If a man like Hitler, who considered himself to be powerful enough to conquer the world, was plagued by a sense of inadequacy because of this physical condition, think of what it can do to us."
Aban wiped tears from his father's eyes while father continued, "When I escaped from their captivity, I came back to Pakistan, but never told anyone about what had happened to me. I was still haunted by nightmares and the sinister laugh of the man, who had severed me into two. Before coming home, I went to the Army Hospital where an adept surgeon reconstructed me. However, the scars of those days ran too deep. Even today, when I'm very tense or under extreme pressure, my hands begin to tremble and I start scratching my thighs vigorously. I tried to overcome this habit. I tied my hand and even bit it to cure myself, but failed. This is my pain; I'm destined to bear it forever."When Imran lifted his head, he could hear sounds of Aban's weeping. He gently stroked his son's head and pulled Aban closer to his chest.
The Assistant Commandant from the far side of the mountain saw two Jihadists, holding Siddhartha Rana. He took aim and both men dropped dead on either side of Siddhartha. His commandos ran from the mountainside towards the dam while Siddhartha walked from the other end.
Imran Shah Malik pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Siddhartha. His hands trembled.
"No, Abba. Don't do it. Siddhartha saved my life."Aban pleaded.
Siddhartha reached father and son. "Give me your remote. Abort the sequence, Mr. Malik."
"I'm sorry, gentlemen. No one can stop it now. Once it is set in motion, even I can't do anything. I tried to reason with your government, but they were not ready to even consider my demand. I was left with no other option, but to initiate the sequence."
"I know your demand. You'll never have Kashmir the way you want it."
"I never wanted Kashmir. I'll hate my government if they ask Kashmir to merge with Pakistan against the Kashmiris' free will. I do not approve of the historical mistake that my Government made when
it occupied a part of Kashmir. Do you want to know what I want?"After a small pause, Imran Shah Malik said under his breath, "I want the Kashmiris to decide their destiny."
"No, Abba. You don't want that. You want to cut India into two parts, the same way it happened to Pakistan in 1971,"Aban interjected. "You want to split India, the same way those people cut you into two parts."
"No questions!"The father turned to his son.
Siddhartha was looking for the opportunity. He jumped and pushed Imran Shah Malik, who fell down. He snatched the remote from his hand, trying to locate any abort sequence.
"I've lived long, dear boy. Sixty-six years has been a long time to live and fifty years is enough to serve one's country. However, I have only one regret. There wasn't enough time to serve Allah. Take my life. Living anymore will be a waste, since I now seek nearness to Allah. I want to serve Him only. But trust me, you cannot stop the inevitable with this unworthy remote. It's not even a child's toy now."
The wave came back and hammered the wall of the dam once again. The explosives inside the four diversion tunnels exploded simultaneously. The rumbling sound of the bottom of the dam faded due to the booming sound of the surging waves. The massive dam looked small in comparison to the oscillation set in the lake when the resonance of the canyon matched with the resonance of the dam and synchronized with the wave. The tremendous upsurge grew and grew while the earth beneath the lake seemed to split into several parts.
"Now no one can save Hindustān, my son,"The father's palm opened up.
"Oh my God! Try to understand, Abba. You are not going to split India into two parts with your plan. In fact, you are going to rip open the entire sub-continent including Pakistan. The geological forces that have built the deep gorges and high peaks of the Himalayas, will lead to a catastrophe beyond imagination. You don't know what you have set in motion today. None of your engineers programmed a simulation that incorporated a very important aspect."
"Nothing will happen to Pakistan, my son. Everyone knows our country's name is Pakistan. Pak means 'pure'. So, the land of the pure cannot be destroyed by Allah."
"It is you who will make all this happen."
"Sorry, my son. Nature is beyond the comprehension of man. Man cannot bring a catastrophe."
"I agree. But remember even innocuous activities of man like constructing large dams, drilling and injecting liquid chemicals into wells and coal mines and even drilling ocean beds for oil has brought about untold devastation. Dams are known to fluctuate the pressure on fault lines and accelerate the movement of the faults. A massive earthquake and underground eruption spawned from a fault in Newcastle that was activated when miners dislodged million of tons of rocks."
"Today is not a day of minor magic tricks like building a dam or digging up the earth. Today will be a day of the greatest water show man has witnessed till date."Imran Shah Malik said cryptically.
"The earthquakes of Alaska, Chile, Indonesia, China will go down as footnotes in geological history. Vegetation like the Ghost Forest of the Western American Coast will replace our lush greenery. The rupture of Cascadia will shrink to a minor event compared to the catastrophe you are going to cause. Thunderbirds and giant whales will shake up the earth to its very roots. Water and earth will join hands in a dance of destruction"
"I know these geological myths and mythological truths."
"Trust me. Today, this show will be the last show, Abba for anyone to watch. Tomorrow, no one will survive to see anything similar."Aban looked worried, "Let me show you."Aban pushed the power button of his MacBook, and continued, "Did anybody bring to your notice that the dam is situated right over the eight-hundred mile long fault knows as the Central Himalayan Seismic Gap? This gap has not released its strain in the form of an earthquake for more than seven hundred years. If I'm not mistaken, this gap released a very miniscule amount of energy in the year 1255 AD in a very limited zone of Nepal. That small energy leak killed more than hundred thousand people in Nepal, including Abahya Malla, the king of Nepal. That was a very local phenomenon, where an insignificant amount of energy brought about a devastating upheaval."
Aban took a deep breath and continued, "The unfathomable energy that has accumulated for millions of years is still intact in the entire stretch of the fault line. Normally, ruptures in the fault generate seismic acceleration and makes the water of a reservoir turn into waves. Today, you have reversed the sequence turning the whole thing upside down. An earthquake that occurs naturally happens when the blocks of the earth's crust rub against each other on the fault line. This releases a great quantum of energy, which travels to the surface of the earth. This creates surface acceleration, and in a sea or in a large mass of water, it creates huge waves. If these waves dash against a dam, the force of it can break a dam. In your case, you have just upturned the process. You are creating an acceleration on the surface of the earth by making the water mass sway. The force generated by this will move downwards towards the fault."
Aban looked deeply in his father's eyes. "You know Abba, that the fault is prone to distortion by even minute changes in its geomorphologic structure, which may be caused by minor movements inside the earth. However, the saving grace is that the continuous fault is punctuated at intervals by small joints made of lumps of molten matter that has come up from the mantle and is like clumps of gooey clay that hold it together. These clayey joints, which bind the gap, do not allow it to rupture, thereby maintaining a delicate balance preventing displacements."Aban clutched his father's hand and said, "Let me show everyone what is going to happen now."
Aban's MacBook booted. He clicked on a file and ran the simulation program.
Everyone watched with bated breath.
The swaying motion of the huge water body generated a momentum of such monstrous force that it induced an earthquake on the bed of the lake. The vibration created a downward acceleration, which began to move downward, beneath the earth's crust. Coupled with the shifting line of force of the oscillating mass, it seemed to plunge an invisible sword deep into the heart of earth. It then started moving to and fro, ensuring that the earth's heart was cut through and through into two distinct pieces.
The gooey plugging holding the fault line at intervals failed and were expelled out one after the other with a muffled popping sound. The two blocks of the earth began to slip against each other. The friction generated a gargantuan megaquake from the deepest belly of the earth.
This fault-rupture released energy equivalent to millions of megatons of nuclear explosion. It was much more than the explosion that could be caused by the entire inventory of nuclear bombs of the world.
A mega earthquake of more than nine magnitudes shook the earth. It did not confine itself to the Tehri area, but went on bombarding one joint after another in the adjacent faults, running parallel to each other and at oblique cross-section to the Central Seismic Gap. The tremor that was produced in each of these parallel faults magnified the preceding seismic activities with rippling effect.
The seismic wave reached and ruptured the MBT, the Main Boundary Thrust of the Kashmiri Himalayas, cut through the Karakoram fault zone, raced to the Indus suture, amplified the most active Kunlun fault, shook the Pamir knots, propagated to the complex fault system of Hindukush Mountain, and beyond to many intertwined megathrusts. The name 'Hindukush' lying in Pakistan was totally erased from the scene.
Each dam collapsed and every city turned into dust. Mountains moved to smother and trample the dale.
The simulation cut to another scene.
The virtual camera zoomed in from space. It showed the Great Himalayas tumbling down into the Gangetic and Indus Plains, crushing them out of existence.
This phenomenon tilted the Indian sub-continental plate raising up the Pakistan side and lowering the Bay of Bengal region in a sickening seesaw motion. Because of this permanent slope, each river, flowing from the Himalayas and Karakoram towards Pakistan vanished from the map, promising to make Pakistan barren for millions of ye
ars.
The simulation stopped and a note appeared. Imran Shah Malik and everyone else read it.
"A simple calculation about the tilting of the plate presents a scenario that actually happened one hundred and twenty million years ago. An uplift of the Western Ghats of India tilted the Indian Plate in the eastern direction. Though the tilting created a steep mountain, it also submerged a major eastern portion of the Indian subcontinent under the sea. That phenomenon did not happen suddenly, but took millions of years. However, today the same phenomena will happen just in a few minutes before anyone can even react. Such is the might of manmade calamities."
The simulation started once again.
The eastern boundary submerged in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh, entire South India, most of eastern India and the Gangetic Plain became part of the seabed within minutes. The higher hills like the Nilgiris, the Western Ghats and few plateaus like the Deccan remained as islands, cropping out of the Bay of Bengal. Mount Everest was not the tallest peak of the world anymore. The K-2 peak in the Karakoram usurped its position.
Subsequently, the tilting of the sub continental plate displaced the water of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, creating a tsunami, several miles in height. People, who were fortunate enough to survive the massive jolts and underground eruption, did not have time to escape from it. The tsunami devoured Eastern Africa, the entire South East Asia and Western Australia in a matter of hours and continued moving towards the Atlantic and the Great Pacific.
The simulation ended. Aban powered off his MacBook.
Siddhartha Rana shook his head in dismay while tears welled up in Imran Shah Malik's eyes. "I'm not Muhammad. I'm not Allah. I haven't been sent by him to bring al-Qiyāmah. I'm no one to decide, who is righteous and who is not."
"Stop this catastrophe, Abba. Tell us how to abort the sequence."
"I can't. Only Allah can."The father stood, but again fell to his knees, lowered his head and prayed, "I'm willing to sacrifice myself. Take my Qurbani, but don't let this happen…"