Operation Blazing Snow

Copyright © 2016 by Varun Bhakay.

ISBN:  Softcover    978-1-4828-7397-9

             eBook          978-1-4828-7396-2

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: The Operation and the Operative

Chapter 2: Battleground Surveillance

Chapter 3: Political Monkeying, The Exodus and the Separatist Call

Chapter 4: Massacre or Self-Defence: The Evening of January 2¹st 1990

Chapter 5: Friction between Factions

Chapter 6: Turbulence: Meeting on the Nagin Lake

Chapter 7: A Plan

Chapter 8: The Escapade

Chapter 9: The Muzaffarabad Masterstroke

Chapter 10: Brass at Raisina Hill

Chapter 11: Revelations

Chapter 12: Mystery

Chapter 13: Turning the Tide

Chapter 14: Maulana’s Provocation

Chapter 15: Action

Chapter 16: Meeting Foes

Chapter 17: The Fallen

Chapter 18: Boom!

Chapter 19: The Final Act

To Mamma and Papa

Introduction

Thank you for picking up Operation Blazing Snow. First up, I’d like to clarify that this is not a story about Kashmir. It’s a story set in Kashmir. The Kashmir of 1990. Certain historical events of the time have been re-created and, in some cases, slightly modified to suit the storyline. No part of the story is intended to hurt anyone and I apologise in case anyone is offended by any part of it. I request the reader to treat the story as a work of fiction and as a means of entertainment.

It was around a year back, on January 15th 2015, that the idea of writing this story came to me. That night, I created three characters and the outline of the story under the tentative title ‘The Kashmir Furnace’. Three months later, in April 2015, free from the burden of examinations, I started to write. I simultaneously read up a lot about the situation in the Valley twenty-five years ago. I quizzed people who had first-hand experience of the situation of the time. Armed with as much detail as I could handle, I finished my first draft on January 27th 2016, in 289 days.

Kashmir is the most beautiful place I’ve visited in my sixteen years of existence. I have spent a total of forty-four months in the northern-most state of India. My father often repeats the famed verse by Amir Khusrow about Kashmir: "Agar firdaus bar ru-ye zamin ast, Hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast. These lines, when translated into English, mean: If there is a paradise on earth, It is this, it is this, it is this." For me, Kashmir is the closest one can possibly get to the concept of paradise: Srinagar with its Dal Lake, Shalimar and Nishat Baghs, Chashme Shahi, Chaar Chinar, Floating Market and Tulip Garden; Banihal (in Jammu Division) with that engineering marvel called the Jawahar Tunnel, which links Jammu Division and Kashmir Division; Verinag; Pampore, which is well-known for its saffron; the Wular Lake, Asia’s largest wetland; Gulmarg; Pahalgam; and of course, Ladakh. I have also seen the other Kashmir. The one you will read about in the story. The Kashmir of uniforms, vehicles, weapons and barbed wire.

All I can say now is sit back, turn the page and let me take you back twenty six years!

Varun Bhakay

February 15th 2016

Pune

Abbreviations

Prologue

In other towns, one of the most deadly events in Kashmir’s history had unfolded rapidly. Earlier in the day, people had emerged on to the streets in enormous numbers. "People’s League ka kya hai paigham? Fateh, Azadi aur Islam!, Kashmir mein agar rehna hai, Allah-ho-Akbar kehna hai!, Dil mein rakho Khuda ka khauf, Haath mein Kalashnikov!, Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad!" Shouting these slogans, men holding aloft banners which said ‘FLJK’, ‘Hizbul’ and ‘Azadi’ walked through streets of towns across the Valley. Some of them carried that dreaded Russian assault rifle, the Kalashnikov while others carried the flag of Pakistan. They were joined by many more people along their march, mostly enthusiastic youngsters. Kashmir’s government was already in tatters and was unwilling to act against the Separatists. New Delhi refused to give the Army and other security forces permission to intervene and bring the situation under control. The Kashmiri Pandits, or KPs, were rendered helpless. They huddled together in large numbers, praying fervently for a miracle. The Hizbul Mujahideen had issued an ultimatum, demanding that the Pandits either leave the Valley or face dire consequences. The threat to their lives had been growing day-by-day for nearly a month. Some families packed up their belongings and hurried away to Jammu. A majority of the KPs were unwilling to leave their homes. We belong here as much as the Muslims! declared MLA Umesh Pandita in a public rally in Srinagar moments before he was shot dead. The situation spiralled out of control, beginning with kidnappings and growing to murders. Pandits stopped stepping out of their houses but things didn’t improve. That evening, incited by radicals and militant leaders, fanatics entered the towns of Sopore, Anantnag, Baramulla, Bandipora, Shopian, Awantipora, Tral, Pampore, Handwara, Kupwara, Handwara and Pulwama and painted crosses and wrote their names on houses of Pandits. Similar incidents occurred across other towns. More Pandits left the Valley in clutches, clogging the Jawahar Tunnel at Banihal as darkness descended like a bat. Kalashnikov-wielding men entered houses that had not been vacated. The occupants were thrashed within an inch of their lives. Women and children were brutally raped by the militants. Men were forced to watch as their families underwent harrowing torture. The militants plundered all they could from the houses and the people. They then either mowed the families down with bullets or set the houses on fire with the occupants inside, alive and breathing. The fires all over the Valley symbolised the overall scenario: Kashmir was burning. The fire was spreading and desperate measures were needed to bring it under control.

**

1

The Operation and the Operative

JANUARY 18TH 1990

NEW DELHI, INDIA

A tall man with fair features, dark hair, piercing gun-metal grey eyes and a beard got off the local train at Chanakyapuri. The ride had been a lonely one but Major Liaquat Khaleel Baig preferred it that way. He looked around the platform but saw no one apart from a few tea vendors. They all seemed engrossed in their own work and nobody was bothered about the almost empty train that had just arrived. Not a single vehicle was on the roads on the cold January morning. Delhiites preferred staying indoors until the sun was shining.

Born in Bijbehara, Kashmir, Baig had joined the Indian Army ten years back, in 1980. He had been commissioned into the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and had served in his battalion for five years before going to the National Security Guard, India’s ‘Black Cat’ commando establishment, on a two-year attachment. He had done a commendable job and had even participated in classified operations in Sri Lanka against the rebel guerrilla force Liberation Forces of Tamil Eelam. His work was spotted by an Additional Director in the Research & Analysis Wing. He was subsequently deputed to India’s premier espionage agency for a stint of three years. The R&AW had been around for nineteen years by then. He had been sent on an undercover assignment to Pakistan and had managed to join their Army under a false identity and served in it for two years before he was betrayed by a fellow agent who had turned traitor. He had managed to kill the traitor and had escaped. He had returned just a few weeks back. His deputation with the R&AW was about to come to an end and he had already decided that he was not going to ask for an extension. He felt that some of his worst nightmares had been better than his time at the R&AW.

From Chanakyapuri, he took an auto-rickshaw to South Block and arrived well in time for his meeting. Here, not a single minister of the brand new Yashvardhan Sahni-government seemed to have arrived. He was led into the office of Secretary (Research), Nikhil Thapar, the Head of the R&AW. Thapar was a legendary character. In thirty years of service, he had done some hair-raising work. As a Field Agent, he had been sent to Pakistan and had joined their Army. He served in it for five years and passed information about Zia-ul-Haq’s K2 plans. Upon his return, he had been involved in gathering intelligence from India’s allies. He had then held negotiations with Naxals in Central India before being chosen to head the Intelligence Bureau. After a year in the Bureau, he was promoted to Secretary (Research). He was supposedly close to many top KGB agents and many Opposition leaders had alleged that he routinely passed information to them. He walked in a couple of minutes after Baig’s arrival, accompanied by Director of Covert Operations (Pakistan) Samir Ali.

’Morning, Liaquat, said Thapar.

"’Morning, sir!’ said Baig.

Turned out to be quite the slippery snake in Pakistan, Liaquat, said Samir and gave Baig a hug.

The two had known each other for a very long time. Samir and Baig’s elder brother Mudassar had been classmates in school and college. Both had joined the IPS together and after Mudassar’s death in an encounter with Maoists in Bihar, Samir had taken Liaquat under his wing.

How was Pakistan? asked Thapar.

Picturesque, sir. I saw a lot of places and a lot of stuff. That cricket kid Sachin Tendulkar. Saw him at Peshawar. He pulled Abdul Qadir to pieces.

What else did you see? asked Ali.

AK-47s. By the truck-load. Pakistan are smuggling them over from the Soviet Union. And a lot of other automatic weapons from the States. They’ve got guys in both countries who are hand-in-glove with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats as well as the Mafia. All the other details are in here, Baig slid a file over to Thapar.

Samir, tell Mishra to get his boys in Russia moving. Tanya should be told to put a few KGB agents on the job once we are done here. I want Mathews to talk to the CIA or the FBI too. Have a look, said Thapar.

Right!

Despite the fact that Ali’s job entailed overlooking covert operations in Pakistan, he was Thapar’s right-hand man and was often deputed to carry out other tasks.

Anything else, Liaquat? asked Thapar.

Pakistan has restarted its work in Kahuta. For quite some time, no activity related to nuclear missiles was being carried out. The ISI is going to be sending agents under a covert operation codenamed ‘Tupac’.

What about Raghubir? quizzed Ali.

Baig looked around the office for a moment before answering.

The amount of money he had been given was atrocious. As was his field work. He couldn’t shadow anyone. He couldn’t get people talking. But he talked. He talked as if it were his favourite hobby. Everything he knew, he told them! Of course, he didn’t know anything that could be considered significant. I had bugged his clothes, so I knew when the police would come knocking on my door. I went to his place and waited for him. Shot him as soon as he entered. He bled out in seconds.

What did you do, empty the clip? asked Ali.

No, said Baig plainly. Two!

Neither Thapar nor Ali looked the least bit surprised. Baig had a notorious habit of going beyond his brief.

And so, I went to Wagah along with a bunch of pilgrims who were headed to Amritsar. Just joined the lot with a turban on my head. Credit to Sam. Before I left, he gave me a fake ID according to which I was a Sikh. I thought it was worthless. He didn’t. From Amritsar, I came to Delhi. Been here for two weeks.

Raghubir was dead? asked Thapar.

Yes. One hundred percent.

All right then. That’s one more asshole out of the way! Let’s get down to business. Liaquat, what do you know about the situation in Kashmir? said Thapar.

"Militancy is on the rise. It has always been existent in the state but after the death of Sheikh Ahmed and the tussle for power between Farhad Ahmed and his brother-in-law, it has grown in massive numbers. Politics can be blamed for all of it. When the First Kashmir War was still on, our then Prime Minister dragged the issue to the UN. That was one of our biggest blunders as an independent country because Pakistan refused to vacate the territory they had occupied and a plebiscite, which had been promised, was never held. In 1965, we captured the Haji Pir Pass, which cut short the distance from Jammu, through Poonch, to Srinagar and the rest of the Valley. In the 1966 Tashkent Agreement, it was returned to Pakistan. Since then, Pakistan has been sending infiltrators into Kashmir through the Pass as well. In the current scheme of things, the two main terror outfits in the Valley are the Front for Liberation of Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the FLJK, and the Hizbul Mujahideen. In 1984, an Indian diplomat, Rajiv Phadnis, was killed in Birmingham by the FLJK. They had wanted their leader, Manzoor Butt, to be released. When their demands weren’t met, Phadnis was murdered in cold blood. In return, Butt was hanged in Tihar Jail five days later. Things took a big turn and went from bad to worse in 1987. The year of that notorious Assembly Election. Soon after Farhad Ahmed ‘won’ the election, young boys were recruited and sent for training to Pakistan. That was the beginning of the militancy on a large scale. Currently, the Separatists are trying to organise a militant uprising under that senile fool Syed Mohammed Ali Hussain. They kidnapped Home Minister Maqsood Shahid’s