The Black Rainbow

by Hussain Zaidi

  Mrs Naqvi had lost her husband and feared she might lose her son as well. Though she had not given birth to Ali, she had brought him up and loved him intensely. After the demise of her spouse, he was everything to her and she couldn’t afford to lose him.

  One evening at dinner she said to Ali, “Dear we need to talk.”

  Ali didn’t answer.

  “I know you’re still cross with me and no doubt have a cause for being so. But, my son, this shouldn’t make you neglect yourself. If you don’t think about me, it’s all right but do think about yourself. You wanted to appear in the civil service examination but you didn’t submit the application. Never mind. You can appear next year. The important thing is to think positively and make the right effort.”

  “If you don’t want me to stay here, I’ll just leave. But please, for God’s sake, no more advice. I know what I should do. Don’t I?” Ali responded rather insolently.

  “Ali you got me wrong. I have all the faith in your abilities. I just wanted you to —.”

  Before Mrs Naqvi could complete, Ali rose angrily and shut him up in the room leaving her in tears.

  After some time when he cooled down Ali realized that he had been unfair to his mother.

  “She was just concerned about me.”

  But next moment he thought, “Has she not been unfair to me? Has she not lied to me throughout my life? But why I’m thinking about this? I have a mission to accomplish and I should think only about that. And when one has a mission to accomplish, one shouldn’t give importance to personal relationships. These relationships in fact weaken one’s resolve and, as Dr Junaid says, I have got to be strong and adamant. What if she were my real mother? Would that in any way affect my mission?”

  While Ali was preoccupied with these questions he heard a familiar voice. Next moment his mother knocked at the door and announced that Sara had come to see him.

  “You must be surprised at my arrival. But I’m leaving abroad day after tomorrow and just wanted to say good-bye to you,” Sara said to Ali after Mrs Naqvi had left the room.

  “You bade me good-bye several months ago,” Ali said tauntingly.

  “You are still annoyed with me. I wouldn’t repeat what I told you during our last encounter as I see you’re still where I left you.”

  “Is this all you came for?”

  “No I wanted to condole the death of uncle Naqvi. I should have come earlier but you know —.”

  “Thanks for the condolence,” Ali cut her short.

  “You know who killed your father?” Sara threw an unexpected question.

  “No I don’t. But do you?” Ali asked sarcastically.

  “Yes. Maulvi Zia, Sara dropped the bombshell.”

  “What! Why in the world would he kill my father and how in the world do you know this?”

  “Your father was doing a story on the militants and wanted to expose something terrible about them enough to convict Maulvi Zia in the court of law. So he had him eliminated. My father told me this.”

  “But your father has links with the militants. Why would he divulge such confidential information?”

  “This is a long story, which I hardly have the time to narrate to you.”

  “But why should I believe you, especially having been duped and dumped by you?”

  “It’s for you to decide,” Sara replied calmly. “I told you what I knew. But it’s good to see you’re looking confident and self-assured. Best of luck.” With those words, Sara stepped out.

  Chapter 41

  “Sir Sara visited me last evening and told me something strange.” Ali said to Dr Junaid

  “Yes. What’s that?” Dr Junaid asked curiously.

  “She told me that Maulvi Zia was behind my father’s murder, because he had some evidence which could convict him.”

  “This is sheer nonsense,” the professor responded sharply. “No one knows Maulvi Zia better than I. He doesn’t kill innocent people. He even spared Seth Nisar and Sara. Besides, he has been on excellent terms with journalists and your father was a widely respected journalist.”

  Ali was taken aback by the remarks about Sara and her father.

  “You said Maulvi Zia spared Seth Nisar and Sara. I don’t understand this. If I’m not mistaken, Seth Nisar is associated with Zia,” he asked.

  Dr Junaid realized that he had made an indiscreet statement but felt that he mustn’t conceal the truth from Ali.

  “Very well. It’s time you knew the truth. I once told you that Sara married you under duress. The reason was Maulvi Zia. It was he who wanted to marry Sara and to avoid that she married you.”

  “I see! So it was Maulvi Zia. But why did he want to marry Sara against her will? This runs counter to the picture of Maulvi Zia that you have sketched.”

  “Well, Maulvi Zia had taken to Sara and proposed to enter into wedlock with her and I don’t see anything wrong in that. But he didn’t want a forced marriage. If that were the case, no one could have stopped him. However, Seth Nisar thought otherwise and so the father and the daughter planned to use you. But when the news of Maulvi Zia’s death spread, they had the marriage dissolved, because the threat perception that formed the basis of your marriage had ceased to exist. Sara is a most wily woman. She wants you to revenge upon Maulvi Zia for having what she alleges murdered your father. In this way, she has tried to kill two birds with one stone,” Dr Junaid explained looking deeply into Ali. “Besides, do you think that woman can be trusted after all she did to you?”

  “I guess you’re right. Sara has no credibility in my eye.” Ali said what the professor wanted to hear. “She also told me that she was leaving abroad tomorrow.”

  “Then this makes my explanation even more plausible.”

  Ali assented with a nod.

  “Let’s speak no more of this and talk about our mission. I trust you haven’t told anyone about us.”

  “You already have my word sir.”

  “And I trust you’ll be as good as your word. As I told you earlier, the members of our movement must be strong and tough physically and mentally. That’s why we give a lot of importance to the grooming of our soldiers. While here I can teach you theory, in order to assimilate our culture, you must undergo the necessary training. Are you ready?” Dr Junaid asked Ali.

  “Yes sir. Whatever you say. Where would I be trained and for how long?” Ali enquired.

  “We have a training academy in the northern part of the country, where you’ll stay for nearly two months. Remember, for us learning is a life-long process and the training in the academy is a basic one — just like an orientation course”— the professor said.

  “When would the training start?”

  “In three days. You’ll make it I trust?”

  “Of course sir. The only problem is the woman who still insists she’s my mother. What should I tell her?”

  “Just tell her that you have got a job in an NGO project. If you want, we can arrange an appointment letter for you. However, during your stay in the academy, you wouldn’t contact her. No calls, no SMS, no letters.”

  “I understand sir.”

  “Ok. Then go home and come back in the evening day after tomorrow. You’ll leave late night.”

  Ali reached Peshawar by train early in the morning. From the railway station he was taken in a car to a village about fifty miles away. There he was lodged in a small house and at sunset was blind-folded and pushed into a jeep driven by a bearded man. He was told not to ask any questions. After a few hours journey, the jeep entered a big old-fashioned building. Ali, whose blinds were now removed, was received by another bearded man and taken inside the building.

  “So this is the training academy,” he muttered to himself. He wanted to confirm this from the bearded man but he didn’t reply to Ali’s query.

  They entered a hall having no furniture but a rugged carpet. Ali’s throat was dry with thirst and he asked for water. But the man only signaled him to sit and left the place. In quarter of an hour, a stout midd
le-aged man appeared.

  “Welcome,” the man said. “My name is Nasir Khan and I’m second in command here. Let me first congratulate you on joining our movement. We need young educated people like you to take our cause forward. Dr sahib speaks highly of you and I hope you’ll prove an asset for us.”

  The man paused for a moment and then resumed, “I know you’re worn out after a long, tedious journey but we are waging a jihad and jihad means incessant struggle with little rest. You are here for two months and your training will begin tomorrow. I just want to share a few things with you about the academy. First, as you have already been told, on no account you’ll be allowed to leave these premises; nor will you try to make contacts with your family or friends in any manner. Second, there is no newspaper, no television, no radio, no Internet here, so that you are completely cut off from the outside world and wholly concentrate on your training. Three, life here is very hard and you’ll be kept preoccupied from dawn to dusk. Food is scarce and of ordinary quality and you’ll be required to do all your daily chores yourself. Four, you’ll follow the instructions in letter and spirit. We have zero tolerance for non-compliance. Finally, remember that your career after the training depends heavily on your performance here. So make the best use of this opportunity. Do you have any question?”

  “I just want a glass of water,” Ali almost cried.

  “Oh. You must be hungry as well. If you have nothing else to ask, I’ll leave. You’ll be provided your meal shortly.”

  The majority of students in the academy were between the age of twelve and twenty and most of them came of poor families. There were quite a few foreigners as well hailing from both the East and the West. The students were of two categories: those who were sparsely educated or had never received any formal education at all, and those like Ali who were well educated and came of the middle class. The two types of students were trained separately, because their training needs were different. Ali surmised that the students falling in the first category were trained to be workers — the future fighters or suicide bombers — while those in the second category were trained to be leaders and planners of the militancy.

  In the workers’ training, the emphasis was on martial drills, while for the leaders the training focused on planning militant activities, oratory and the theory of jihad. The theory in a nutshell was this:

  The world presented a spectacle of incessant struggle between Islam and kufr. The conflict had intensified with the passage of time and the forces of kufr were out to annihilate Islam. Everywhere Muslims were being prosecuted. The anti-Islam forces feared the rise of an Islamic state and therefore they were bent upon preventing its rise. The rulers in Muslim countries knew well that the rise of an Islamic state with its emphasis on justice, equality and equitable distribution of resources would strike at their privileged position and therefore they had joined hands with the evil forces.

  The governments in Muslim countries had become a puppet in the hands of anti-Islam forces and were promoting their masters’ agenda. The anti-Islam forces were out to obliterate Islamic culture and values in the name of freedom of expression, human rights and fundamental liberties. They were using their enormous wealth, as well as those of Muslim countries, their sophisticated technology, immense media power and tremendous military strength against Islam.

  Therefore, it was the duty of every Muslim to fight the evil forces to frustrate their nefarious designs. The war had to be fought on all fronts: political, economic, cultural, ideological and military. However, that war couldn’t be won unless un-Islamic regimes in Muslim countries were dethroned and Islamic governments installed, because that would allow Muslims to use their enormous resources for the defense and propagation of their religion.

  By the grace of God, Pakistan was chosen to be the centre of Muslim unity. Pakistan was the only ideological state created for the propagation of Islam. However, successive governments in Pakistan also succumbed to western pressure and disregarded the objective of the creation of the country. Instead of Islamisation, the society was westernized, secularized and vulgarized. It became a hotbed of corruption, obscenity, and injustice. Then a great servant of Islam took over the reins of powers and started Islamisation of society. His regime was the golden era of Pakistan. That great ruler also spearheaded the Muslim resistance against the advance of communism and forced the demise of the great evil system. Apprehensive of his unflinching resolve to spread Islam, the anti-Islam forces conspired against him and killed him. After his death, the country returned to the age of obscenity and secularism.

  But God gave Muslims another opportunity with the rise of the Taliban, who in a short time set up an Islamic government in Afghanistan. However, the anti-Islam forces joined hands to topple that government in which the government in Pakistan played a key role. Since then the government in Pakistan has been a stooge of the West in its onslaught on Islam. However, the mujahideen are determined to take the fight to its logical end, which of course is the victory of Islam and establishment of an Islamic caliphate to which Muslims everywhere would owe allegiance and thus the dream of Muslim unity would come true.

  The key to this victory is the Islamisation of Pakistan and this is not possible unless the country is purged of western influence. Since the mujahideen are vastly outnumbered and out resourced, they can’t wage and win the conventional war. Their most potent weapon is suicide attacks, which would force the government to change its policies and come to terms with the mujahideen. The suicide attacks are aimed not at ordinary people but at the state apparatus, which is at the service of anti-Islam forces. True, sometimes innocent people also perish in such attacks but then this is the price the society will have to pay for the noble cause. Besides, such people are martyrs and will be rewarded with an everlasting life of perfect bliss and happiness in the hereafter.

  In a few days, Ali had realized that he, like other trainees, was being indoctrinated. The same message was repeated every day. Questions were discouraged and everything was related to the will of God. There were twenty people in the ‘class’ and a quarter of them were foreigners. The trainees had at least three things in common: One, none of them had joined what was called the Islamic revolutionary movement out of poverty or having been a victim of social injustice. In fact, some of the trainees came of enormously wealthy and influential families for whom the world was up for grabs. Two, they were all well educated. Three, all of them were solitary figures and had been unable to establish normal relationships with the people around them. They were, so to speak, free of customary family ties. It was hardly surprising therefore that none of those solitary figures could develop personal relationships with each other during their stay in the academy.

  Chapter 42

  It was one month since Ali had left and Mrs Naqvi had not received any news of him. While she was thinking of him, came Farzana.

  “You’re looking disconcerted Are you worried about Ali?” she asked.

  “Yes I haven’t had a word from him. I’m concerned about his safety.”

  “At least, he should have made a call.”

  “Yes that’s what worries me,” Mrs Naqvi noted.

  “Do you remember which NGO he has joined? We can contact them.”

  “Ali had shown me his appointment letter but I don’t remember the name of the NGO except that it’s based somewhere in the northern areas. I have already contacted all the NGOs working in that area but received the same reply: They don’t have any employee or trainee named Ali Naqvi. They even told me they haven’t made any recruitment from our city during last three months.”

  “Then it’s really a cause for worry,” Farzana observed. “Have you checked with any of his friends?”