Red Jihad

  'So according to the plan the missile was to strike at Delhi, but it deviated and hit Lahore? And India had nothing to do with it?' the president said in bafflement. The men in the room were not able to believe what they had just heard. All this bloodshed caused not by their mortal enemy but by their own defender.

  'Yes, sir.' Chowdhury sighed and closed his eyes.

  The chief of air staff shook his head and muttered, 'You fool! Do you know what you have done?'

  'I know, sir. I am prepared to face the charges. My ADC was also involved. I speak for him as well. I tell you this in good faith. I acted for the betterment of my nation.'

  'Do you know how many innocent lives you have cost us? He used you! You still do not realize what Basheer is doing, do you?' Shahid Abbasi, with a PhD in Mathematics, leaned back and thought for a full minute and then said, 'By God, that man has the brain of a seasoned politician. Here, let me explain...'

  He stood up as shocked faces started to turn curious, the facts of the matter sinking in. Just then Abbasi realized he needed to take an important decision and said, 'But I must do something first. Ask our forces to stand down. Now! And call the director general of Military Operations in India. Tell him, Pakistan wants an unconditional ceasefire and that I will speak with the Indian premier very soon.'

  'But, sir...'

  'Do as I say.'

  An officer hung his head and exited the room to make the call.

  With steps taken to ensure the end of war, Shahid Abbasi turned to others and said, 'I believe I owe you all an explanation,' his sharp mind formulating a theory to pin the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. 'Imagine this: two countries. Bitter enemies. However, populated by more or less the same people. Currently, both on the path of reconciliation. Both these countries have internal problems. We have the Talibanis, the Baloch separatists and other insurgents. India too has similar problems. Separatism, Naxalism, etc.

  'We are both plagued by terrorism, extremism, poverty and violence. However, since we are sworn enemies, two things happen. First, we ignore terrorism in our own country, for we believe that the greater enemy is out there, on the other side of the border. Secondly, we fund terrorist activities on the soil of the other country. For example, our policy to make India bleed from a thousand cuts.

  'With a recent spate of normalization of relationship and strengthening of ties, the two things above cease to exist. We stop trying to destabilize the other country and start looking at our internal problems like fundamentalism, poverty, regionalism and communalism, unemployment, to mention a few.'

  The men looked at the president, wondering what he was up to.

  He continued, 'Who is at the receiving end of this sudden self-introspection by the two nations?'

  'The war-mongers,' Shahid Abbasi answered his own question, 'the criminals. The hawks. The anti-state actors who want to seize power. The mens rea who wanted the state's attention to be focused outside the country so that their own dirty games could go on unhindered. This is what Yasser Basheer did. His Islamic radicals were on a run. Our army was suppressing them successfully to create a new Pakistan. But how can Yasser have fought us with a handful of men and outdated weapons? So he loaned men with similar plans to destabilize India irrespective of their ideology, merged them with his own followers, took material from you and started on his bloody megalomaniacal conquest. His aim was simple – peace is bad for terror. Start a war. Think Soviets and Mujahideen, gentlemen. Foe of my foe is my friend. That is why we were with the US. Moreover, the decision to strike at Lahore was strategic. You know why?'

  'Why?' someone asked, even though the question was almost rhetorical.

  'Let me give you some hypothetical scenarios. Tell me what you think will happen,' said Shahid in the tone of a schoolteacher.

  Others merely nodded, too confused or shocked to say anything.

  'Case I: Pakistan attacks India,' Shahid said, 'what will happen?'

  Akram instantly replied, 'India will attack Pakistan in return.'

  'Yes, it has to. Every state is bound to defend its sovereignty. But is Yasser Basheer powerful enough to dictate our foreign policy?'

  'No...at least, not yet,' replied Akram.

  'Thankfully! Therefore, he cannot spark war. Case cancelled. Case II: India attacks Pakistan,' spoke Shahid. 'What will be the outcome?'

  'Pakistan will retaliate,' came the reply.

  'Correct, but as Yasser Basheer is not the Indian president, there is little he can do. He can only try to goad India to attack us by pervading it with low-intensity conflicts, something that India has been able to absorb far more than our predictions. Case cancelled.'

  'Now to the next case,' the president went on. 'Here I will use the much famed term: non-state actors. Case III: Suppose the Pakistani non-state actors attack India employing the conventional modus operandi–bombings, assassinations, shoot-outs, what will happen then?'

  'It already has...' someone quipped.

  Shahid nodded, 'Yes, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. India did not respond. Why? To be candid, simply because we are not that big a threat to them and they know they can absorb such blows. We cannot. No war still.

  'Case IV: the Indian non-state actors attack Pakistan using the same devices as in Case III. Then?'

  'Ideally, we would have responded, but not in the light of 26/11. They did not retaliate when our men were found attacking India. We are morally bound not to. If we do, we will be the hypocrites of the international community,' said the prime minister.

  'Absolutely. What will happen? A joint investigation between the two countries. Cooperation. Not exactly something that the anti-state elements across the borders want. For it is our jingoism that keeps them safe from a state clamp-down. No war still!'

  Shahid continued as others heard him in rapt attention. 'Case V: Indian non-state actors attack India. I mean, for example, the Maoists attacking a train in Jharkhand. What will happen then?'

  'Nothing!' said a naval commander, realization dawning on him, 'It is internal disturbance. No war, at least no war against any external political entity.'

  'Precisely,' confirmed President Shahid Abbasi and continued, 'Case VI: Pakistani non-state actors attack Pakistan. What will happen then?'

  'The same result as in Case V. It will be internal disturbance again and we will clamp down, like we have on the fundamentalists. So, gentlemen, we have discussed six scenarios till now and apart from two of them, none leads to war. And the cases that can lead to war are out of the reach of our anti-state actors. This leads me to my last and final scenario, the only case that can be influenced by non-state actors like Yasser Basheer. And trust me, with this, war is definitely possible,' Shahid said solemnly.

  'Case VII: non-state actors from either of the two countries attack Pakistan or India using the respective state machinery. Suppose a rogue Pakistani civilian shoots innocents in India, it might not go to war. However, what if a rogue Pakistani battalion enters India? In such a case, there is an extremely high probability that India might respond in kind, which will create a vicious circle and Pakistan will have to respond with even greater force. Simply because tangible state apparatus is being used that can be traced back to the source, and the fact that for the operationalization of such apparatuses, explicit assent of the state is required. The attacks and counter-attacks will start a war. And sustain it.

  'However, in such a case, it is also possible that India might think twice before declaring war. It will not invade us until we do something really extreme or it feels really threatened from us. Or if we convince her that the element was truly rogue. So there still is some glimmer of peace. The only fool-proof plan of action to incite war is exactly the one Yasser Basheer utilized. If non-state actors, from either India or Pakistan, were to attack Pakistan, the weaker and thus the more paranoid state of the two, that too using lethal apparatus from the Indian state, in this case, a missile, Pakistan would have to declare war on India. It has to open hostilities. It has to retaliate.
Or its very raison d'etre is threatened. Because it is the weaker state of the two, it has to...bite in the face of an existential threat. This is what Basheer did. He fermented unrest, very intelligently, and tried to barbeque his own ambitions over the fires of war.'

  Shahid, his monologue over, looked in the direction of the military secretary. Chowdhury was a broken man. He sat, unmoving, his gaze fixed to the floor. He shuddered as a tear ran down his cheek, 'What have I done?' He broke down completely.

  No one in the room could decide whether to console him or be mad at him.

  NWFP, Pakistan

  Local time: 2100 hours

  Date: 25 April 2014

  The Thuraya SO-2510 satellite phone was active, as evident from the softly blinking red light in the left corner.

  'Yes...Agyaat? Basheer speaking. How are you...? Yes, India and Pakistan are at war...ha ha! Do not thank me. Thank the agents at the Eleventh Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). They may have been rogue officers, but they helped train our men. You feel better, eh? Indian army's operations against Naxalites have stopped? They are moving away to the front? Very good. That gives you some breathing space. You can get your men across the border in the meanwhile. Things are better here too. The Pakistani army has stopped attacking us…they face a bigger threat right now.' Soon Yasser Basheer hung up.

  A contented smile of victory had lit up his face. His men had stopped being attacked or followed, and the intelligence operatives had been taken off their tails. He was no longer the focus of the establishment. A much-needed break, by the grace of God. His men needed to recuperate, recruit and re-arm so that they could continue their fight against the puppets of the West. After all, tehzeeb had to be preserved. Basheer knew that the ideals of the West had corrupted young boys and girls who were fast losing their roots, their culture and were increasingly adopting a godless, decadent, atheistic lifestyle that solely focused on Epicureanism and self-gratification. Someone had to stand up to reinforce the fear of Almighty in such blackened hearts, even if that required the use of force. He knew this was a shared feeling between him and his saffron counterparts on the other side of the border. He respected this thing about them. At least they knew what was right, no pun intended, he realized and chuckled.

  His chain of thought was broken when his aide spoke up. A young Sindhi who had joined him when he realized that multinationals would be the end of the world after he was fired from a high-profile investment banking job.

  'Sahib,' he began, 'things are looking better. We are off the radar. Even the CID sleuths stationed around our party headquarters have vanished. They have other things to do, it seems. To top it all, the war is going bad for Pakistan. I would not be surprised if they ask us for help.'

  Basheer chuckled loudly and said, 'They will have to. Everything is going according to the plan. They ask for our help, we help them in defending Pakistan. Our valiant fight puts the enemy on the backfoot. People start sympathizing with us even more. Finally, despite all our efforts, Pakistan loses. India wins. The Pakistanis will feel humiliated.'

  The aide was all ears. 'But why should we aim to be defeated?'

  Basheer looked at him patronizingly. There is so much this boy needs to learn, he thought. But then, that was why he was with him.

  He continued, 'The Pakistanis will blame their democratic government for the failure. That is where we come in. We provide the Pakistani people an alternative and fight against the Indians. After a long struggle, we manage to drive the Indians out. People hail us as heroes from the bottom of their hearts. We become liberators and are catapulted to the seat of power in a glorious Islamic revolution. What more can we want?'

  The aide looked at him with wonder. Basheer was certainly a master strategist. However, there was one thing he did not understand. He wanted to ask his master who had already anticipated his question, and started speaking: 'I talked to Chowdhury, an old friend, and told him I needed supplies so that my men could attack India. He obliged, the poor fool. Even that fox decided it was best not to mistrust me. However, what would have happened had we attacked India? Another inquiry, international censure, snapping of diplomatic ties, what else! This would have forced Pakistan to hunt us with even more zeal. We wanted the state off our backs, not hunting us down!'

  'But how did the missile lose its way to our own territory?' The aide was curious.

  Basheer looked offended for a moment, and then recovered to explain, 'I asked my man to change the target from Delhi to Lahore. We would have been in serious trouble had the missile hit Delhi. Pakistan would have cooperated with India to find the perpetrators. Even Major Rana, who was leading the mission, did not know that the target will be changed to Lahore.'

  'But what purpose will it serve? Killing our own people?' The aide was confused. He needed foresight to see through this foggy discussion.

  'Our own people! Bah! They who hunt us down! They who sing and dance to the tunes of Bollywood. They who have distorted Islam to be a religion of passive peaceniks and idealist dreamers! They who are a repository of evil and things haraam. They who have forgotten how to lead their lives according to the Sharia. They are not our people. Even then, we used a low-yield warhead. A conventional one. For God is merciful. Moreover, as a great man once remarked, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. If by sacrificing a thousand people we can save the soul of this country from Western hegemony, so be it.'

  'What did you do then, sahib?'

  'Simple, I had a sub-programme installed in the navigational array that gave me control over the flight path of the missile. Pralay already had a variable trajectory planner so no one suspected the crazy turns to be extraordinary. I counted on Chowdhury to keep his mouth shut due to the ignominy that would have followed any revelations. Moreover, attacking Lahore gave us multiple advantages.'

  The aide thought for some time and said, 'It turns Pakistanis against Indians. So they can then support our policies readily. The war would have ensured that Pakistan's attention would be diverted from us! And India's from her own internal troubles. No wonder, some far-seeing anti-state actors in India helped us with men.'

  Basheer patted his shoulder zealously. The boy was on the path of learning.

  Aiwan-e-Sadr, Pakistan

  Local time: 2230 hours

  Date: 25 April 2014

  'Yes, thank you. And we will meet soon. I will call you with more details... Goodbye.' President Shahid Abbasi came off the phone call with the Indian prime minister.

  A ceasefire had been declared. The war was over. All the forces were to withdraw to their respective pre-war positions. Shahid Abbasi had told the Indian prime minister exactly what had happened. PM Roy was more than willing for a ceasefire and discussing damage control. If the non-state actors from both sides could have cooperated to achieve this, then it was not impossible for the two states to sit together for mutually beneficial talks.

  Abbasi had correctly analyzed what had happened vis-à-vis Yasser Basheer, and his vanity was puffed by what he thought was the correct explanation of the anomalous phenomena. However, he was also scarred by the loss of life. Over a thousand casualties, 150 aircrafts lost, 260 tanks destroyed, thousands of prisoners of war and immeasurable damage to infrastructure and economy.

  How could Chowdhury have been so stupid? The perpetrators were our own. Cunning bastards.

  He hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

  Integrated Defence Command Headquarters, New Delhi

  Local time: 0015 hours

  Date: 26 April 2014

  'It is still hard for me to digest this. They could be lying?' General Malhotra looked at PM Roy sceptically. He needed time to study the developments. Was the enemy playing a new game?

  'I do not think so. Their version seems extremely likely.' Roy shook his head. For him, a nightmare was about to end. He did not want to be the leader under whom India launched a nuclear weapon. He just wanted to rest now.

  'Anyway, only a fool woul
d not take the opportunity to stop a war,' Air Chief Marshal Sharma said.

  'I agree, even though we were winning,' nodded Admiral Sapra .

  'But we were winning!' The defence minister, a young Turk, could not believe he was about to miss on a glorious opportunity to win votes. A war won always gets the government another term, and the defence minister another run in the office. After all, it implied that he was a masterful and strategic player.

  'Winning? How do you define winning?' Malhotra snapped at his shortsightedness.

  'I mean, we were almost about to overrun their defences,' the defence minister defended himself unsuccessfully.

  'Yes, and then what would we have done?' Roy asked him, his expression patronizing.

  'Er...what do you mean?' The defence minister knew he had committed a faux pas, but was biding time to figure out a way to defend himself.

  'What would you have done when you had thoroughly overrun their defences?' Prime Minister Roy continued, 'This is not the medieval age. The boundaries of nations have now been so deeply embedded in the minds of our populace that any attempt at military conquest would fail. There would be massive insurgency. Do you want to be a modern-day British Crown ruling Pakistan?'

  'No, of course not.' He was slowly beginning to see the point.

  'Imperialism is against our policy. Moreover, I can assure you that Pakistan would have used the nuclear option if they had realized there was no hope left. Being attacked by a nuke is not what I call a victory. Are you sure that you are ready for that responsibility?' Roy was almost shouting, frustrated at the defence minister's implicit suggestion to carry on the war.

  'No,' the defence minister managed to murmur.

  The phone rang and PM Roy picked up the hotline.

  'Yes? I was just doing that [...] are you sure? Naxalites from our side and Taliban from yours? Are you positive? [...] OK [...] they [...] what? […] But [...] yes, we too want a piece of action. Of course! Thank you! Merge units [...] I will let you know. Bye.'