Chapter 33 #2
“…if this is proven beyond all doubt, then this is yet another Kashmiri leader whose allegiance is marred. Aamir Haider was a pillar of the pro-Indian Kashmiri society of the 90s and early 2000s. Was he really playing double agent for the Pakistanis, Shazia?”
“Sourav, that’s a debatable topic now. But the fact that it is even a topic, speaks volumes about the god-like image Aamir Haider had cultivated even after his death. Especially after his death. He was an untouchable enigma as his party had erected this illusion. Now, we see that suddenly shaking…”
“Shazia, I have to stop you right there. We have news that Sufiyaan Sheikh is missing.” The moderator pinched his earpiece. “Our reporters are live from outside his residence, and the CBI is already at the doors… Anis, what can you see?”
“Sourav, I am standing here outside Sufiyaan Sheikh’s residence.
He was supposed to watch the results live here with his team but twenty minutes ago, the CBI has raided it.
At first, they were denied entry, then only five officers were allowed on foot.
While Sayyid Butt is said to have been apprehended inside, Sufiyaan Sheikh is missing.
His various offices and constituencies are being searched as we speak… ”
“What is the ground reaction on this?”
“Sourav, the crowd here is massive and all Awaami supporters. But none have the answer to the question — Was Aamir Haider loyal to India? There seems to be silence around. The dhols have stopped, the celebration is halted. There is confusion everywhere.”
“Thank you, Anis. For our viewers joining us right now, let us play the Aamir Haider treason tapes again…”
Aamir Haider and treason in one sentence.
That ought to have cooled the fire inside him.
Samar tried to sigh, tried to exhale, tried to give up all the pent up rage of 12 years.
Couldn’t. That meant it would cool down when they had formed government and he was behind his desk — as the Health Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
His phone rang. Adil.
He picked it up this time.
“Hello?”
“Did you send this to the CBI?”
Samar did not hesitate. “Yes.”
Adil paused. He was not happy. Samar had made peace with Atharva and Adil turning away from him when he did this. But he had to do this.
“Working Committee meeting is tomorrow morning,” Adil informed and ended the call.
“Sir, we are here.”
Samar pulled his earphones off and paid, getting out at the airport.
————————————————————
Late that evening, Samar walked into the KDP Boulevard Headquarters and did not recognise it.
It was lit up, the firecrackers still bursting outside.
The deluge of congratulations and handshakes and hugs made him startle.
He realised what a feat this was. He also realised that they had achieved it. That they had done it.
Samar smiled, slapped backs, shook hands. And while walking down the atrium, its white flooring gleaming, he flashed back to a white snow-covered garden of Atharva’s house and football on ice, an empty office behind them, with prospects so bleak that their weekdays were spent idle.
The weight of this victory suddenly sat on his shoulders and he realised that he would soon be working in the thick of a ministry.
The Health Ministry. The reports, the plans, the consolidated data that was already sitting in his laptop, ready to be implemented…
a thrill sparked through him. After months of destructive work, he was finally entering a constructive phase of his life again.
Samar opened the strategy room and found it blessedly empty. He sat down on a chair and took the moment to settle the excitement that rolled through him. He hadn’t felt that emotion in a long, long time. Or maybe he had… in small bursts… in the anticipation of seeing her.
The door burst open. He turned.
“Where have you been?” Atharva roared.
“Delhi. But you already knew it.” He rose to his feet. Atharva stepped inside the room and closed the door.
“Look, now you would believe, that I am loyal to KDP.”
“When you stole from my safe?”
“I stole for the betterment of KDP. For Sufiyaan Sheikh’s downfall.
Didn’t you say you wanted to burn the man when he tried to rape and torture Iram?
Here he is, absconding. He is running for his life like a dog…
The CBI has raided his house, his offices, even Sayyid Butt is under investigation.
Their party records are being opened. Come on, Atharva! Don’t pretend you don’t like this?”
“Why.”
“Why? Why? Because you never trusted me with anything. I kept asking you, even after we returned from Leh. I kept asking you about Adil, about what’s going on.
You waved me off! Every. Single. Time.” Samar blasted.
“But I never gave up on our party. Sayyid Butt had been trying, but I always, always gave him smaller victories to protect us. He had his trap set for you. I came and told you. But what did you do? Make Iram interim president! Not me, not Qureshi, but her?”
“From where I see it, you waited until the final moment to pick your side.”
Was he serious?
“No!” Samar asserted. “I always looked out for you. Even when you made Iram interim president, I only looked out for you. Do you know Sufiyaan wanted to kill you in jail? I stopped him.”
Silence slammed between them. Atharva sat down at the head of the table. Then glanced up at him — “Should I even waste my time asking how you stole the tapes?”
Samar hesitated.
“It was all leading to this,” he said instead. “I still don’t know why you didn’t release them sooner, considering all those lengths you went to… I’m guessing you were waiting for the right time and I did it at the perfect mome…”
“Stop acting like a fucking hero, Samar. You took your revenge on Aamir Haider, that is what you were after. Not for KDP, not for me, not for anybody else. You did this for yourself, and I hope that ends your revenge. For all our sakes, I hope it ends here.”
But it just doesn’t end. Samar screamed inside. I don’t feel avenged.
“You get to be the fucking hero, Atharva…” Samar thundered. “Everyone thinks you have released the tapes. Again, you become the hero!”
“And that’s on you and your half-baked plans.
” Atharva retorted. “You are so hell-bent on getting your way that you don’t look left or right.
You keep asking me why you never knew my strategies in SFF while Adil did?
That’s because Adil knew his strengths and weaknesses, that’s because he covered my weaknesses and executed the plan to the T.
Nothing more, nothing less. You, on the other hand, tracked your own changes.
And more often than not, they were half-baked.
Detrimental,” he stressed. “That’s the truth. ”
“You should thank me, then.” Samar sneered. “For all my half-baked plans that fell into your lap, you should thank me.”
“Then thank you for leaking those photos of Iram and me.”
Samar froze.
“My biggest blessing in disguise. Biggest, Samar. So thank you. And for this, I will thank you tomorrow. Officially. Come prepared.”
“In that case, you come prepared for my MLAs to leave with me.”
————————————————————
The Working Committee meeting was opened up to an extra few members of the party, including the secretaries and parts of the Media and PR team.
Cabinet-selection meeting, it was called.
Samar walked in, and found the seats already filled.
Amaal sat there in the side with the rest of the members as the Working Committee round table was crackling with conversation.
Their eyes met, and she mimed a call. He had not picked up or returned any of her calls yet.
Samar nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling back when she did.
Atharva stepped up to the head of the table, and Samar quickly went and sat down on the lone empty chair. His chair. On the right of Atharva.
“Good morning and welcome to the Cabinet-selection meeting. First, I would like to take this opportunity to formally congratulate each and every one of you present here. You, along with your teams and your processes, have made this incredible feat possible. A single cell cannot run an organ, a single organ cannot run a system, and a single system cannot run a body. If there was an example of this law of nature churning right in the working world, it would be Kashmir Development Party. So, a round of applause for you. For us.” Atharva put his hands together, making the room echo with applause.
“Without going into a longer speech because god knows I’ve done enough of those,” Atharva said, drawing chuckles. “Let’s get into the distribution.” He opened a padded file with the KDP logo embossed on it and began reading.
“I will hold onto finance. Minister for IT, technology, education, youth affairs & sports — Adil Hussain. Minister for industries and commerce, culture, labour, and employment — Meer Hasan Qureshi. Minister for roads and buildings — Imran Raza. Our speaker candidate will be Mr Anand Khatri. My Press Secretary will be Amaal Durrani.”
Samar blinked, staring at his hands. Where was Health, Housing and Urban Development?
“We will be offering Janta Party the Deputy Chief Minister and a few minor ministries. But they may not be satisfied with that. So we will keep the Ministry for Health, Housing and Urban Development as a bargaining chip.”
Samar’s eyes whirled to Atharva.
“Our pros of having Janta on our side far outweigh the cons,” he went on. “So, as a consensus of the core team, we will be doing everything in our power to keep this alliance.”
Core team? When the fuck was he consulted?! Samar kept a cap on his temper and began plotting his retort. Qureshi beat him to it, though.
“Atharva, do you think giving them Health and Housing is smart? We always agreed that Samar will become our Health Minister. As a doctor, he has far more knowledge and experience to restart the non-existent health ecosystem.”
“I do not disagree with that. But,” Atharva paused, “Samar is needed elsewhere.” He set his papers down and smiled. “Who would lead the party as the President when I step down this week?”
The room plunged into silence.
“Samar has worked this election campaign brilliantly,” Atharva pointed. “And having worked so closely with me, he knows what will go into keeping KDP strong and growing.”
Having considered the Summary of Evidence, medical board findings, and the officer’s conduct record post-repatriation, this General Court Martial concludes that the accused is suffering from service-attributable psychological impairment sustained during captivity as a Prisoner of War.
Samar felt his temper reach the tipping point.
“I propose Samar Dixit for Party President of Kashmir Development Party.”
The Court finds him permanently unfit for further military service, with no reasonable prospect of restoration to full operational effectiveness.
“It is a good idea,” Adil agreed. Heads began to nod. “ The party needs the right vision for expansion. Who better than Samar to provide that?”
Accordingly, he is to be invalided out of service under applicable regulations, with all consequential pensionary and welfare entitlements processed forthwith.
Not this time.
Samar cleared his throat. And all eyes turned to him.
“Thank you for your confidence in me,” he managed to keep his voice steady.
“It is an honour to be the KDP president. But I have to also look out for the constituencies that I have taken care of, from where I won. I have made promises to them and I want to see them through myself. So, I respectfully ask you to reconsider the proposal.” He met Atharva’s eyes.
If you do not reconsider this, consider Jammu MLAs gone.
“This is open for debate.” Atharva took his seat. “Let’s talk it out.”
Samar saw the floor open for an opportunity to get back into the government.
He threw his everything into debating this, pushing people around him to do so too.
Voices rose for him, arguments were made in favour of his being the Health Minister just as fervently as him becoming the KDP President.
And just when he felt a small hope of tipping the balance in his favour, Adil piped up — “What if we go half and half?”
“How?” Qureshi frowned, his biggest champion so far.
“Right now, we all agree that KDP does not have another more experienced, more able leader for president than Samar. But he is also justified on his part to work for his constituencies. So why not let Samar take over KDP presidentship from Atharva right away and groom one of the senior leaders to take over at a later date, say in two years? Make the party ready for a new leader. Then Samar can join public office.”
Samar felt the tables turn. And just like that, the tide flowed back into Atharva’s favour.
“All in favour of Samar Dixit as KDP President, raise your hands.”
Hands went up in the air.
“All against.”
A few went up in the air.
“I officially propose Dr. Samar Dixit for KDP President.” Atharva announced.
And the resolution got passed, shifting the ground from under his feet.
Their eyes met. Samar seethed.
His eyes moved, and passed over Amaal. She was staring at him.