Indians in Pakistan - Excerpts from Chapter 14 & 15

Ejaz and I met in a secluded area on Friday night. We were discussing possible courses of action when the sound of light footsteps interrupted us. Ejaz looked at me in silence and motioned for us to remain quiet. Suddenly the silhouettes of two men became visible in the darkness.

‘Who’s there?’ I queried.

‘It’s me, Akbar Bugto,’ whispered a voice. ‘And I have Omar Sheikh with me.’

‘We know exactly what you have been up to,’ said another voice.

There was a long spell of silence as Ejaz and I pondered the meaning of these words. Akbar Bugto was one of the support staff who hailed from Baluchistan. He was a handy man who worked at this camp in multiple roles including that of an electrician and a gardener. He was the most visible person on this campus. Omar Sheikh, the Kashmiri software engineer and main communications expert, on the other hand, was usually confined to the control room or the communications centre near the officers’ quarters.

‘What are you talking about?’ Ejaz asked Akbar. ‘Please explain your statement.’

‘I don’t need to explain it. All of us here know what I’m talking about.’ 

‘And that is…’

‘See for quite a while we have been keeping a watch on both of you…on our own.’

‘And what have you found out.’

‘That all of you, including the remaining Indian jihadis, are planning to run away. That Ejaz poisoned Commander Sharif. And lot’s more.’

When one’s darkest secrets are revealed out in the open in a casual almost lackadaisical sort of way, then even the bravest of men get petrified. This is exactly what happened to Ejaz and me that night. The stunned expression on Ejaz’s face informed me that I was not the only one whose head was swimming in confusion and despair. Was it the end of the road for us now?

 Read more at  http://pothi.com/pothi/book/vivek-pereira-indians-pakistan - Also available on Flipkart, Amazon.in and Infibeam