A Case of Exploding Mangoes
“You want freedom and they give you chicken korma”
Mohammed Hanif, currently the head of the BBC's Urdu service, shares his insight as a graduate of the Pakistan Air Force by creating a satirical account and explanation of the assassination of President Zia ul-Huq. On Aug, 17 1988 President ul-Huq was killed in a mysterious plane crash along with several of his top generals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel. Since then no official explanation came out regarding this incident. Therefore several conspiracy theories are running amok. Borrowing from all those theories and adding his own twist Hanif creates a witty account of the assassination. And according to his version it is a crate of mangoes on the board of the PakOne that was responsible.
The story starts with the moment before the crash and then flashback from the point of view of Ali Shigri, Pakistan Air Force pilot and Silent Drill Commander of Fury Squadron, son of Colonel Shigri, “one of the ten men standing between the Free World and the Red Army”:“The runaway is in the middle of the Bahawalpur desert, six hundred miles away from the Arabian Sea. There is nothing between the sun's white fury and the endless expanse of shimmering sand except a dozen men in khaki uniforms walking towards the plane.”
The story then quickly moves into the day Ali Shigri's roommate “Baby O" Obaid's mysterious disappearance and the subsequent detention of Ali Shigi, the involvement of the intelligent service, and Code Red security alert for President Zia ul-Huq. In between we meet interesting characters such as the laundryman Uncle Starchy, blind Zainab, secretary general of the all Pakistan sweepers union and my favorite the First Lady:The First Lady stayed away from newspapers. There were too many words she couldn't make sense of and too many pictures of her husband. She herself rarely appeared in the papers, and if she did, she was usually attending a children's festival or the Quran recitation competitions for women that General Zia dispatched her to so she could represent the government and hand out prizes. The information minister sent her the clippings of these pictures and she usually hid them from General Zia because he always found fault with her appearance. If she wore makeup, he accused her of aping high-society Westernized women. If she were no makeup, he said she looked like death, very unlike a First Lady. He constantly lectured her that as the First Lady of an Islamic state, she should be role model for other women. “Look at what Mrs. Ceausescu has done for her country.”
The bulk of the story is the account of Ali Shigri in first person and his flashback leading up to his arrest where he was accused of plotting to kill the president: The soldier doesn't blindfold me. He walks me into a room that is trying very hard to look like a torture chamber. A barber's chair with rubber straps on its armrests is connected to amateurish-looking electrical devices. An assortment of canes, leather whips, and scythes are arranged on the table, along with a grass jar of chili powder. Nylon ropes hang from a hook on a wall and a pair of old tyres is connected to the ceiling with metal chains, probably to hand the prisoners upside down. The only new item is a while Phillips iron, unplugged. A torture chamber that doubles as a laundry room? I wonder.
Whether Hanif talks about the busy streets, the secret dungeon created by the Mughals or the spiritual crisis of President Zia while reading the story of Jonah, he brings a witty sense of humor and depth to the story telling. In a recent interview he was asked, if he had received any threats from Zia’s family, the Army or the Intelligence Services. “No,” said Hanif. “I don’t think they are into reading books.”