Flames And Arrows

Flames & Arrows

  This story is dedicated to brave personnel of the Indian Armed Forces who risk their lives and undergo tremendous hardships everyday to keep this nation safe.

  Many thanks to the esteemed members of Bharat Rakshak Forums for their help by means of comments, suggestions and corrections. Special thanks to Rajanb for his help with proof reading.

  Disclaimer: It's a work of fiction and should be treated as such.

  Copyright © 2012 by Jaidev Jamwal

  Jaidev Jamwal

  https://jjamwal.in

  11:00 Hours

  26 Oct 2012

  National Stadium

  Karachi, Pakistan

  Mushtaq Naqvi, son of Pakistani President, Saqlain Naqvi was going to make his first public speech to mark his formal entry in to the troubled nation's political arena. His entry in to politics was supposed to revive the sagging fortunes of his father and party PPP before national elections in 2013. PPP was in trouble on many fronts; most serious of them being their ongoing spat with powerful factions in Pakistani Army. A popular saying among people interested in international affairs is, “Every Country has an Army, the Pakistani Army has a country”.

  Naqvi was never a really popular President to begin with. He got the post for one reason only, his wife, former PM Samina Naqvi was assassinated while campaigning before elections in December 2007. One, amongst countless conspiracy theories circulating in Pakistan, suggested that the assassination was carried out on the orders of the then all powerful military dictator and “President”, General Inzamam. Most PPP supporters believed it and nurtured a deep resentment against the Army. Adding to this mistrust was the fact that PPP was Sindhi dominated while Punjabis formed the bulk of the Pakistani army. Most of the issues troubling Naqvi originated from this bitterness amongst the two groups.

  A major one was the growing closeness of PML (N), a Punjabi dominated party led by former PM Wasim Akhtar with powerful elements in army and its shady intelligence agency the ISI. Both resented PPP and its hold on civilian government and had been working behind the scenes patiently to weaken what they saw as disproportionate influence of Sindhis in nation's political arena. PML (N) and army together had launched a vicious campaign against PPP by planting stories about ill-gotten wealth and debauchery of the families of Zaradari and his PM Yaqub Raza in the media and executed targeted killings of PPP cadre, thinly disguised as terrorist attacks.

  The mastermind behind this sustained campaign against Sindhi PPP was General Abdul Asgar. He was ambitious and well-connected, who thought nothing of using people or ideologies for his personal gains. Right from the time he joined army, he had cultivated the image of being a pious Muslim with hatred for anything western or what Pakistanis thought of as anti-Pakistan. But nobody, except him, knew the real General Asgar and his ambitions.

  He quickly rose through the ranks to command a senior post in Pakistani Strategic Missile Group (SMG). He was a casualty of Musharraf's half-hearted attempts of purging the military of radical Islamic elements after 9/11 and was transferred to an army unit in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir bordering China and India. After Musharraf's exit, he was promoted to rank of a General and given the command of the army's garrison in Islamabad, and then in Karachi.

  Being a powerful army guy in Pakistan brings many benefits; money and political influence not being least of them and General Asgar was quick to make the most of it. Very soon, he was considered to be army chief in waiting as soon as General Beg stepped down. But Beg had other plans.

  Even though he considered General Asgar favourably, General Beg had no intentions of giving up the post of army chief anytime soon. During the last 18 months, he had started to appease his paymasters in the US with fervour by providing vital intelligence against major anti-US militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Using his help, NATO forces had captured or killed a number of most wanted terrorists in a short period. Although it increased his influence within the US, and correspondingly Pakistan, the numbers of enemies among Islamist militants as well as sympathetic elements in the defence forces and amongst the civilian population increased exponentially. Like General Pervez Musharraf before him, he too alleged numerous conspiracies and attempts of assassination directed against him to gain sympathy.

  Using his influence amongst US officials he managed to get extension to his already prolonged tenure, the latest one being in April 2011 that extended his virtual rule on Pakistan by another 3 years. In this, he had a lot of help from the US which was backing him to the hilt as their new "ally" in Pakistan.

  It didn't go down well with many people in Pakistan, least of all with General Asgar, who saw his chances of gaining absolute power in Pakistan rapidly diminishing. It was at this time, that General Asgar started looking for allies in Pakistan’s political arena and he zeroed in on Wasim Akhtar. Akhtar too, despised Beg who was protégé of his nemesis General Pervez Musharraf. He had never forgotten how Musharraf had launched the Kargil misadventure, overthrown his civilian government and put him into exile, thereby striking a crippling blow on his political clout and career. Even though he had no trust in the military, he was only too glad to forge a secret alliance with General Asgar, who promised him the positions of PM and President, in exchange for an indefinite tenure on the post of army chief for himself.

  Together, they had launched a vicious covert assault on PPP and the government it led. News stories were planted in local and international media exposing ill-gotten wealth, bribery and sex scandals of various ministers and army personnel loyal to Beg who were holding key positions in the regime. Many junior leaders and cadre of PPP and its allies were assassinated in violent attacks which were conveniently blamed on Indian and Israeli intelligence agencies.

  With just months to go into elections, effect of this onslaught on government and Beg's hold on it was tremendous. Nobody ever expected elections to be free and fair in Pakistan, but revelations of brazen corruption and immorality among ruling politicians and the Beg faction of the army caused the popularity of PPP and Beg plunge to an all time low. Adding to their woes was the ever increasing friction between cadre of PPP and Punjabi parties who indulged in almost daily clashes armed with automatic weapons and explosives. Punjabis having the support of General Asgar invariable had the upper hand in most of these battles. Combined with sectarian Shia-Sunni violence and frequent attacks by Talibani organisations, the situation in Pakistan was truly dire

  It was at this time when Mushtaq Naqvi was hurriedly called back from London to give a much needed boost to election campaign being led by his father. Mushtaq's publicity handlers were wise enough to cultivate his image as a suave and well educated secular Muslim who cared more about Pakistan than holding any position of power. This was particularly essential after pictures of him indulging in drinking and cavorting with women in London were published on the Internet. That was waved away as an inevitable discretion of youth, and Mushtaq Naqvi in 2012, was a far cry from the drunk womaniser that he was alleged to be.

  Sitting in his bulletproof SUV along with his father as it raced to the election rally spot, he listened intently as his father gave him last minute instructions on how to conduct himself on stage in front of thousands of supporters. As the convoy reached the rally spot, it was surrounded by thousands of eager supporters, intent on catching a glimpse of their young fresh leader. Death of his mother in similar conditions was still fresh in the minds of the security detail who had forbidden any member of Naqvi family to even peek outside the heavily tinted bulletproof windows of their vehicles. Their SUV stopped at the stairs of a twelve foot high temporary stage and both father and son quickly climbed up the stairs, surrounded by dozens of well trained and heavily armed commandos.

  PPP spe
aker Mahroof Raza who was already on stage greeted the father son duo warmly and escorted them to the chairs strategically placed so as to allow the crowd full glimpse of whoever was sitting there. After the customary hand waving, sloganeering and introductory speech by Raza, Naqvi senior took control of the mike to address the rally. He wanted this rally to be the launch pad for his son's future political career and presented Mushtaq as the next great hope for Pakistan. After waxing eloquent for what seemed like an eternity he invited his son to make his first ever speech in Pakistan. Flanked by his body-guards, Mushtaq got up from the chair and started walking towards the dais.

  His short journey was rudely interrupted by sounds of gun shots fired just 70-80 meters from the stage. Panic spread quickly among the massive crowd and the stadium was full of terrified people rushing towards the nearest exit. Saqlain and Mushtaq both were quickly surrounded by their body guards who started escorting them to their convoy. At this time, whole stadium shook with a massive explosion that blew up most of the stage and put the rest on fire.

  Last thing that senior Naqvi saw before losing consciousness was the sight of his son's body being tossed up high up in air like a broken rag doll.