Black & White

Afghani Mahmood Albak is recruited to be a suicide bomber and kill at least 400 people at Lal Keela in Delhi on the occasion of India's Independence day celebrations on August 15. He is provided with the identity of an embittered youth, Numair Qazi from Gujarat, who had witnessed the death of the his parents at the hands of Hindu extremists. Upon arrival in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, he meets with Numair's paternal uncle, Gaffar Ali Nazar, an Indian Patriot who writes in the local magazine, and lives with his wife and two sons, Jalal and Bilal. Both Jalal and Bilal are involved and have been paid a huge sum to accommodate Numair. But when wealthy and influential Naeem Shaikh kills himself, after becoming suspect in the eyes of the CBI, Numair befriends the Urdu Professor of Zakir Hussain College, Rajan Mathur Sen Gupta, and his social activist wife, Roma, and moves in to live with them and their disabled daughter, Surubhi, so that they can procure a Pass for him to witness the Independence Day celebrations. Numair is disgusted at the manner in which Muslims have lowered themselves, are living harmoniously with Hindus and Sikhs, visiting and organizing Hindu pilgrimages, and participating in non-Muslim religious events. He also finds out that Hindu and Muslim youth leaders, are in reality, close friends, but outwardly demonstrate hostility, and work in close collaboration with corrupt and self-serving politicians like Mohanlal Agarwal. As 15th August looms closer Numair has absolutely no qualms of making Rajan a scapegoat, has arranged for the entire area to be rigged with high-powered explosives and is all set for Martyrdom. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)