19. The Truths of Saharabad Riots
Returning back to Saharabad station I quickly called to Aarti. I was quite nervous, of course, about how would she react after all that mess I had done. I mean after embarrassing people to such an extent you suddenly come back and say, “OK I’m ready. Let’s do it.” It’s not easy then. But I had to do it now no matter how much anger I may had to face.
“Hello!” said Aarti and for a moment I just couldn’t speak anything. I didn’t know from where to start or what to say. I was so confused.
“Aarti…”
“Faizan? Where are you? How are you? No, first tell me where are you right now? I am coming to pick you…”
“I am fine and I am coming to see you all. But right now I want to…I want to apologize for everything I did with you people. I know that was very stupid…”
“Forget that. Just come home. Soon…”
“Yeah I will. But let me speak today. I know I have made a mess of few things but I have realized my mistake and perhaps my responsibilities too. Aarti I have decided to campaign once again against my father. Yes, I promise. And this time it will be for your father and everybody who fights for peace and justice” I said and I could hear her weeping clearly on the phone.
“And I want to tell you something else too that before we had met my life was full of emptiness. It was like a curse where neither could I dream of something nor could I keep any desires, nothing. It was completely empty. But then, you came into my life and things started to change. I have desires now. When I sleep at night I see dreams now. And in the dreams, I see you. I see us both…”
Bammm….
Something hit my head hard before I could complete my words. Darkness shrouded my vision and I just fell down unconsciously. After sometime, when I regained my consciousness I was surprised to see myself in my own house. I was tied to the chair I was sitting which surprised me even more. I tried to untie myself but the ropes were too tight to untie.
“Hello son!” said Abbu instantly entering into the scene while I was dumbstruck to see him. His behaviour was different that day.
“I really apologize for such rude behaviour but it’s all for your good” he replied.
“What is this? Why have you tied me here?” I asked him angrily.
“It’s for your own safety. You are so stupid and stubborn in your behaviour that you left me no options but this. I am sorry,” he said.
“But why have you tied me? Just set me free…”
“Because my son you are my only child and hence I can’t let you risk your life out there. It’s all for your own safety, son” he said politely.
“Safety? Safety from what?”
“Oh Faizan don’t act so stupid now. Safety from the riots of course. It is close now.”
“What are you talking about? What are your ill plans? Tell me when have you scheduled your ill plan?”
“Let’s see hmmm…maybe just two days before the elections on the eve of Shivratri” he replied.
“What?”
“Yes, exactly the same reaction I too had when I learnt that Shivratri is just two days before the election. And isn’t it a great co-incidence. I mean just think about it. Hundreds of people will come out to worship their God and then few of my men will simply throw some stones on the temple and that’s it. You have just planted a new riot. Nothing else is required to fool these hypocrites,” he said viciously.
“You have lost your mind. People are wiser now. They will never riot because they understand people like you and your ill ways now” I replied.
“In that case we can think of something bigger. And then maybe we will destroy the whole temple and their rage will give birth to a monstrous riot,” he said smiling viciously.
“What do you mean by ‘we’? Whom are you working with? Wait a minute…you are that agent. Shit! You are the one whom IM recruited to create tension in the city and I could not just understand it. Damn!” I said.
“Well my son you didn’t understand even a bit of our plan. During the riot when your mother was killed, the people there followed me to kill me too. But somehow, I was saved by the people of IM. They gave me a place to hide and perhaps every facility to survive in those conditions. They had a favour on me and I had to pay it back to them. They wanted a terror attack on India and I wanted my revenge. So we joined hands and started to keep an eye on the every incidence of the city.”
“And then you waited for the right time to come. And then I suppose you always had an eye on me too. And when the elections were near and you saw me gaining some popularity over the people you found your right time to get into the picture, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Well you are getting smarter now. And that’s good and very important in politics. But my son I had my eyes on you since you were in those relief camps helping the poor suffered people. You remember? The relief camps you went after being rescued by those terrorists. Well those were my men and luckily, one of them recognized you and he informed about your conditions and well- being. Then I enquired about you everything from one of my most trusted man. Everything including your escape to Shailpur, your sufferings there and even about Aarti. Well I never liked her. And I always knew you would return to Shailpur to meet her, marry her. And so my dear son it was I who indirectly made conditions to compel her to leave from there. She was fired from the job and when you did not return she packed her bags and decided to return to Saharabad. It was all my set up.
But then things changed in few years. I had to come back to Saharabad and this house was the safest place to start and carry on with my terror plan. I could have not risked leaking this information and so I had to get you out of the house. But for that, I needed a valid reason and I found that reason into Aarti. I found her and pretended before her to be a poor, weak, and pathetic old man who needed some medical attention. She got me into the hospital where I met you and later I kicked you out of my house. A perfect plan,” he replied.
“Not much people knew about my escape and condition in Shailpur and even about Aarti. Who told you about all this? And who was your most trusted man who was spying me for you all the time?” I asked angrily.
He smiled and cunningly replied, “Ready for another surprise? It was none other than Junaid Khan.”
“Junaid Khan? But…”
“Yes I know he is a member of Manav Kalyan party, my opposition party” he replied. “You see that’s why I got so success in politics because I never took any chance ever in it. Very few people know Junaid was my colleague and a friend since college years. I brought him into politics and employed him into the opposition party to put a hole in their work plans. I had connections with IM much before I had joined politics. They wanted someone as cunning as him to gain the trust of Younis Khan as quick as possible. It took time of course, but when it was done, we could think of our master plan. I always wanted to become CM of this state but for that, I needed public attention and moreover their support. Riots were the only way to achieve that attention and support. The plan was to kill all the obstacles coming in my way. And hence we employed Junaid to convince Younis Khan for the Saharabad riot. Younis Khan never wanted any riot. But Junaid cunningly convinced him and at last, we framed him for the riots. So in other words my boy Saharabad riot was all my plan”.
“What?” his last words, they completely took me aback. My eyes were opened out of surprise and I could not believe on what I had just heard.
“Then what are you taking revenge for when it was all your crap of mind? Why a second riot? What is else that you want? How many more lives will you take for your selfish cruel desires?” I shouted at him angrily. His truth had broken my faith. I felt shameful and of course, I was no more proud of him being my father any more.
“Because the plan had eventually failed. Younis Khan is still alive and in fact, he successfully won the Saharabad seat, which was supposed to be mine. The fake riot we had set up got uncontrollable when it turned into a real one costing me my family, my career, and everything that belonged to me. I emerged as the loser of my own plan. They killed my entire family. No one touches my family,” he said throwing an earthen vessel on the ground angrily and panted heavily. “I will kill everyone responsible for it. No matter what religion they belong to. No matter what community they belong to. I will snatch everything that belongs to me. And for that if people die they die” he replied viciously and left from there slamming the door hard.
I was dead, you know, when I realized that ever since the beginning everything that I had suffered and everything the innocent people of this city had suffered it was all due to my own father’s ill desires I had no desire to live anymore. I was feeling so shameful. The thought of facing my friends, public, everybody after they would know the truth was haunting me from inside. Various questions stirred my mind and I was completely harassed by life. How would I bear the load of being a murderer’s son? How?