Ali Shigari, the protagonist of your novel, like you, trained at the air force academy during the latter years of the Zia era. Those sections of the novel are more detailed and intimate in comparison to the Zia portions. Clearly, much of it is drawn by your experience and observations at the academy. Did you know someone like Ali and his friend Obaid at the academy, young men who were brutalized by the ISI on the basis of random suspicion? Were you ever picked up by the ISI during your stint at the academy?
Good questions but I think the answer to all of them is no. I learnt more about the military life by watching movies and reading books. I have never met anyone who worked for the ISI. And I don't know very many people who have. Training academies, I think both in Pakistan and India, are like strict boarding schools with parade grounds and shooting ranges with red flags.
I don't think premier intelligence agencies waste their time on trainee officers. A good drill sergeant is all an academy needs. As a journalist I have interviewed some people who were brutalized by intelligence agencies but they were all civilians.
What is the ISI really like? Is it a State within a State, answerable to no one? What currently motivates its operatives? Do you believe the ISI harbours renegade officers whose mindset is closer to Al Qaeda, motivated by a deep hatred of the West and capable of masterminding acts of rare evil?
I think it (the ISI) must be a bit like RAW, maybe a bit more efficient. I can't claim to know its mindset or for that matter Al Qaeda's mindset. And I can't remember any renegades being found out so they must be hiding it quite well. Which I suppose is the basic job of any intelligence operation, anywhere in the world.
I have covered Pakistan for a while and there are not very many sightings of serving renegade officers. All the renegades seem to be retired ones. Some of the retired ISI heads are media stars. Now there is an ex-servicemen society which is not only demanding Musharraf's impeachment, but trials for all our dead dictators as well.
I guess they would be considered renegades but I actually find them quite scary for different reasons. Because after retiring they start claiming that they were just professionals like you and me.
In 1988 (then ISI chief Lieutenant General) Hamid Gul was leading the charge on Jalabad which failed miserably and he still think he is the only one who would make a better commander than Musharraf. What a criteria to measure yourself against!
Image: Policemen arrest retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, former chief of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, during a demonstration against the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in Islamabad, March 16, 2007. Photograph: Nadeem Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Musharraf must explain why he visited Libya
Advertisement
