Chapter 39

 

“We are going to have a new recruit for our cause,” Dr Junaid told Maulvi Zia.

 

“Oh really! Who’s the lucky on?”

 

“He’s no stranger to you. His name is Ali Naqvi, if you remember.”

 

“Yes of course. How can I forget him? He stole one of my prized objects.”

 

“He didn’t steal it. He himself was trapped.”

 

“You’re right. But how did you catch him?”

 

“He met me few weeks back dejected and shaken having no reason why he should live anymore. The people he thought to be his parents turned out to be merely his foster parents and he himself a bastard, I suppose. It wasn’t much difficult for me to draw up some similarities with him and impress upon him that his life had not lost all its meaning and purpose and that he should live for a cause,” Dr Junaid explained.

 

“Do you think he can be of use to us? Maulvi Zia asked him.”

 

“Very much. I haven’t yet told him about our cause but I think time has come to invite him to join our movement. He’ll not refuse.”

 

“Well then sooner the better. Is this all you wanted to speak to me about?”

 

“There are few other things. But if you are in hurry, some other time.”

 

“Actually I have to appear in the court tomorrow to extend my bail and I have got to see my lawyer now,” Maulvi Zia told Dr Junaid. “I’ll call you later.”

 

“Very well. I hope you wouldn’t have any problem in the court tomorrow.”

 

“Certainly not. The judge is no stranger to our cause.” Maulvi Zia winked at his comrade.”

 

Dr Junaid decided it was time he told Ali about himself and the movement he was part of. The professor was confident he was in full control of his pupil’s mind. So when in the evening Ali came to see him, Dr Junaid asked him, “What you make of what I have so far told you?”

 

“Sir all my life I have lived on wrong assumptions about myself and the world. There was none to correct those assumptions. But sir you, true to a teacher, have shown me the real picture of the world and my place in it. I have reached the conclusion that strength is among the greatest of virtues and that if I’m not strong I’m good for nothing. But one must use one’s strength to achieve some impersonal purpose, to live and die for a cause.”

 

“Excellent! Are you prepared to live and die for a cause?”

 

“Why not sir. I have hitherto lived only for myself and what did I get? A life full of failure and dejection, a life devoid of all meaning and purpose. Now I want to live beyond myself,” Ali said in an energetic tone.

 

“Splendid. The noblest life is that of a hero; the most honorable death is that of a martyr. A hero is one who lives for others; a martyr is one who dies for others. The best cause is that which makes people live and die for others. Do you want to join such a cause?” Dr Junaid asked him.

 

“With all my heart and soul,” Ali assented.

 

“I appreciate this,” said Dr Junaid. “Before we go into details, remember one thing: you will not step back. Your commitment must be once and for all.”

 

“You have my word sir. I’ll not flinch from my commitment,” Ali pledged.

 

“Then listen. I told you the other day that I owe my life and everything that I have to one person. You know who he is? He is Maulvi Ziaur Rehman.”

 

“Maulvi Zia! The well-known religious leader, the one who is said to be the patron-in-chief of terrorists?”

 

“Yes the same Maulvi Zia. The man who has dedicated his life to effecting a metamorphosis in society, the man who is committed to establishing a just and egalitarian system, where people will live with honor and self respect and in fear of God only. If working for such society is terrorism, then yes Maulvi Zia is the patron-in-chief of terrorists,” Dr Junaid said in a voice choked with emotions.

 

“Forgive me sir I didn’t mean it. I was just quoting the popular view about him,” an abashed Ali apologized to Dr Junaid.

 

“It’s all right. People even fail to recognize, much less honor, their benefactors and stigmatize them as miscreants and culprits, traitors and terrorists. This is because the masses by and large are naïve, conservative and coward. They would bear intolerable suffering but wouldn’t rise against its perpetrators. They would rather live in disgrace than die with honor. But eventually they must come to the realization that it is better to be a martyr than to be a coward, that honorable death is preferable to a wretched life.”

 

“Pardon me sir, but I have also heard that Maulvi Zia’s network kidnaps people for ransom, blackmails and extorts money from them. Sara, my ex-wife, told me that her father was one of the victims of Maulvi Zia.” Ali raised another question.

 

“There’s no need to beg pardon. You must clear all your doubts before you enter our movement for our world has no room for skepticism. It’s wholly made of faith,” Dr Junaid responded in a crisp tone. “Yes, we kidnap and extort money. But why? That’s important. Unlike politicians, we don’t this to fill our own pockets or to swell our bank accounts but to keep our movement alive and kicking. Without money, no movement can be sustained even for a single day. And look at the people we extort money from — the big businessmen like Seth Nisar and corrupt politicians, who plunder the public wealth and who pay in taxes even less than that paid by my peon. These people have no qualms about abusing girls just about the age of their daughters. It may be a crime to extort money from these thugs, because law is made and unmade by them in their own interest. But it’s not a sin. Rather it’s an act of virtue. And do you know how did we net Seth Nisar?”

 

And then Dr Junaid gave Ali a brief account of how they had trapped Seth Nisar. As he finished, he remarked, “And look at his daughter — just like his father a ruthless, heartless person, who lives only for herself and uses innocent people like you. Do you think it’s wrong to take away from these filthy rich and give it to those who most deserve it?”

 

“Certainly not sir. Such people deserve worse treatment,” Ali agreed with his mentor.

 

“Yes, they need to be given worse treatment. But how? Not merely by killing them, because they will be replaced by their scions, who are even more ruthless. The cure consists in uprooting the system from which these people draw strength and sustenance. And the system can’t be uprooted by the so-called constitutional, legal means, because no system provides for its own demise. We have to resort to other means.”

 

“I fully understand and endorse your views. We should leave no stone unturned in demolishing this system. And for this I’m with you in life and in death,” Ali assured Dr Junaid.

 

“This is like my disciple! Let me hug you and congratulate you on embarking on a new life,” Dr Junaid chuckled.