1 Death
[Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. With the exception of public figures, Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The opinions expressed are those of the characters and should not be confused with the author's.]
27 May 1964
Dhaka, East Pakistan
"Ahhhhh….ahhhhhh"
Someone's painful scream was coming out of the dark room in the Pakistani barracks on the outskirts of Dhaka. A middle aged man aged 39-40 was hung to the ceiling with ropes tightened around his wrist.
On his head there was a bulb attached with a twine, keeping him from sleeping.
The skin around the rope has turned reddish blue, the shirt he was wearing has dark red spot, with two of the front teeth missing.
A short black soldier was kneeling in front of the hung person laughing, one hand holding a hammer and the other a nail.
The young man's left foot was nailed to the ground with the help of 3 iron nails. The blood has stopped flowing from the wound. He was hungry and sleepless.
On the south side of the room there was a table on which a radio was placed and the officer sitting behind the table was continuously changing the frequency.
"Hey, Hey, stop screaming. Can't you see I'm trying to find some news frequency here", said the Officer Mujib with annoyance visible on his face.
Creak. Creak.
The door of the room was pushed open and a lieutenant rank officer with two soldiers holding files behind him walked in.
He didn't pay attention to the officer mujib who was playing with the radio behind the table and walked directly towards the prisoner.
"Did he say anything?" Lieutenant Khan asked with a straight face.
The officer Mujib behind the table stood up at attention hurriedly saluted the lieutenant.
"No sir", replied officer Mujib.
Khan extended his hands and the accompanying soldier handed him a file.
Khan opened the file and started asking "Tell me, Mr.Junaid, your name is Junaid Shaikh or should i say Jay Shankar Joshi?"
When the prisoner heard the question, he opened his eyes and looked at lieutenant Khan with cold eyes without uttering a word.
Lieutenant Khan thought Jay Shakar Joshi was a tough guy who will not spill the beans, however he didn't know that his subordinate started torturing him without asking any question.
Jay Shankar has received specific instruction that if captured he can disclose all the information to keep himself safe.
"You are a Hindu, what I don't understand is, when did you change your religion?" Asked Khan.
Jay tried speaking however the pain was making it difficult to open his mouth,
"waa... waa" jay shankar tried speaking
"what" Lieutenant Khan couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Water" Jay shankar exhausted all his strength to one word.
Lieutenant Khan was dumbfounded when he heard that the prisoner wanted water rather than telling him any info.
Khan looked at the black soldier standing beside officer Mujib holding hammers and nail with annoyance and said, "should i send you an invitation to bring water "
When the black soldier saw lieutenant talking to him. He threw the hammer and nail and ran outside the room.
After sometime the black soldier brought water in a Kettle, jay shankar drank some of it most was splashed on his shirt.
"I… changed my religion in February, …when I met a good…good man in India. He gave me the power to avenge my revenge."
Seeing Jay Shankar answering his questions, Khan was happy but he didn't show it on his face.
"Yes, why did you come back. Since you have gone to India already?"
"Officer, didn't you read my file? My father, mother, two brothers, my wife and children were all slaughtered like pigs and dogs, so that a general could encroach on our family's land. They slaughtered my family, This is blood debt and someone has to pay for it." Replied Jay Shankar gnashing his teeth, tears streaming down his face thinking about his children.
Jay Shankar's son was just admitted to the 4th standard class, his daughter was only 1 year old, those people didn't take a pity on such small child.
"I can sympathize with what happened to your family, but you should go to court. We have a legal system in Pakistan to give justice to citizens' grievances. You should not work with enemy countries to threaten the national security of Pakistan" Said lieutenant Khan with a righteous face.
When officer mujib heard what Lieutenant Khan was saying he almost couldn't hold his laughter.
"Haaa…haaa….haaaa" Jay Shankar started laughing. Jay Shankar's was laughing at his own stupidity. he should have listen to his relatives. There family should have left this country long ago.
"What are you laughing at?" Khan was annoyed that the prisoner didn't agree with what he said.
"Nothing. Officer, you came here to ask me about Operation Mukti Bahini."
Hearing that Jay Shankar knew about his intentions, so he stopped hiding before he could ask any question jay shankar said
"New era is coming, officer, gone are the old days, gone are the old ways..."
As Jay Shankar was talking, the radio on the table picked up a frequency and news was being broadcast.
"You are listening to All India Radio Kolkata, it is with great regret we are informing you that India's prime minister pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died in the morning because of a heart attack, his funeral…"
When Jay Shankar heard the news first he was shocked and then started laughing crazy.
"Haaaa….Haaaa. old ways are dying, New Era is …"
Boom
A bullet penetrated the fragile human skull, splattering white and red flesh on the wall behind, killing Jay shankar instantly.
"You are right, a change is coming but you'll not be alive to witness it." Lieutenant Khan said putting the pistol in pistol holder attached to his belt.
Officer Mujib was sweating standing behind lieutenant Khan thinking 'How hypocrite, He was talking about justice and court one second ago and next second execute people. where is your court now.'
Officer Mujib was a Bengali Muslim, although he has some privilege's compared to the Bengali Hindu's. In front of the western Pakistani officer, it was only a difference between death of a slave which they can kill at will and death of a servant whom they have to compensate with some rupees.
For Western Pakistani officer serving in East Pakistan, sky was high and the emperor was far away. For them they are the true Pakistani and these Bengalis residing in East Pakistan are just savages who happened to believe in the same god as them. They the true the rightful heir to the god's cause even if they rape and kill a Bengali man's wife and daughter, he should not resist, he should receive them with a broad smile on his face, because they are here to purify these savages.
In the 17 years following the partition of India, all the income from the Bengalis was looted by Pakistani government to construct there so called capital. In the 1950s, Under the secret instruction of then President of Pakistan, the Pakistani army carried out genocide of Hindu's, Kalshira Massacre, Nachole Massacre to name a few.
Some district where Hindu population was in majority was reduced from hundred thousands to the the measly thousands, those who survived were also women who the pakistani army kept as slave to vent .
If Indian's were the slaves in the British colonial period then in the east Pakistan, Bengali Muslim were the slave of western Pakistani government. After continuous planned and manufactured riots and massacre carried out by the Pakistani army in the period of 1950-1965 other minorities became the the exotic animals you will find if your lucky that was also with the help of east Pakistani government that kept monitoring of the Hindu population in the territory.
In one of the incident, the Pakistani police open fired on the refugees just one kilometer from the border of India. 17 people were killed on the spot, the remaining injured people were dragged by the Pakistani police near the Indian outpost and shot, after killing the people they pissed on the dead bodies because the Indian soldier has received orders not to cross the border, they can only watch innocent people being killed and humiliated even in their death.
