Chapter 28 #2
“Hmm?” She widened her eyes, feeling the lack of sleep suddenly in the burning of her eyelids. His looked no different. His lids dropped though. And she followed his gaze, gaping at their son who had dozed off on his chest. Curled like a koala.
“I’ll take him to his cot…”
“Let him be,” Atharva sat back, making his chest Yathaarth’s reclining bed. She couldn't even appreciate this lovely sight in front of her, the loveliest of all.
“Myani zuv.”
“Ok,” she sat up straight. “I had my panic moment last night, did my thing and cycled over it. Now tell me what is going on, whatever you can tell me. Just give me information so that I stop overthinking and be the person you want me to be.”
He held Yathaarth steady with one arm on his back and extended the other to her on the table. His palm opened.
She took it.
“You are exactly the person I need, Iram.”
She smiled — “Buttering is over. Now debrief, Janab.”
“There is nothing I have hidden from you, and there is nothing I will hide from you. This looks bad.”
“Go on,” She slid to the edge of her seat, tightening her hand in his.
“Zorji says legally I am in a grey area.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong!”
“I did. An attempt was made on my life. Not only the CM of Jammu & Kashmir but his entire convoy. That’s an act of war. I buried it and worked proactively to erase any and all traces. That’s…”
“Treason?”
“No, but it is failure to report a cognizable offence with national implications, and negligence of constitutional duty at the highest level. Not to mention obstruction of intelligence workflow and deliberately sabotaging India’s counter-terror ecosystem.”
“But not treason.”
“No, not treason. I did not do anything against my country.”
Good. The worst wasn’t true.
“So then, this can be salvaged…”
His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Let’s be optimistic.”
“Atharva.”
His mouth remained grim, tight. Then he finally sighed — “I spoke to Yogesh Patel, among others.”
“What did he say? He can help you, right? He commands the Central government…”
“He is caught in the firing alongside me. Today, the opposition at the Centre is going to rattle the Parliament because their alliance partner here did this. His hands are tied as well. I am potentially open to a parliamentary ethics probe, and possibly a CBI or NIA investigation into wilful suppression of terror intelligence to start with. But all of this can be slowed down in the machinery. What can’t be slowed down is the media campaign that Momina Aslam has unleashed.
She has been planning this for a long time. ”
“You were trying to protect me and she hit you.”
“Don’t say it like it’s your fault!”
“But it is! What was I thinking? How could I go? Leaving all this, you, not even thinking that I am not just your wife but the Chief Minister’s wife… the things I made you do…”
“Iram.”
“Hmm?”
He couldn’t lean in but his eyes sharpened, searing into hers — “You and I are not different. She hit you or me, it’s the same.”
She stared at him.
“You were caught in an impossible place. You were a human, not a goddess on a pedestal. We made it back safe, we will make it out of this too. Ok?”
“We will,” she leaned forward because he couldn’t, quietly pulling her seat towards him. Their hands clasped tighter. “I am here. I am with you. Whatever happens, whatever the inquiry or probe, I will do as you say.”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“You are not part of this inquiry. Never utter it out loud again. You were in Ahmedabad, with Ada. Tending to her after she fell ill with chickenpox. You. Were. Not. There. With. Me.”
She did not like it.
“What did I say, Iram?”
She gritted her teeth.
“Iram.”
“That I was not there with you.”
“Good.”
“How will you defend yourself if not by claiming you were protecting me?”
“There is no defence for this. There is just buying time. And trying to explain to the decision makers that my sole aim was to prevent an escalation when Kashmir had seen a major incident just recently. It’s not a strong enough defence because that was not my decision to make.
But that’s the only defence I have. And I intend to see it through. ”
“What does Zorji say?”
“He says to deny it happened outright.”
“He said that?” Iram squeaked. “He is the one who is always after you to stick as close to the truth as possible.”
“In this case, he says to do the opposite. Get them to set me up under a SIT inquiry, seal the proceedings, and deny that I was there at the sight of the blast.”
“And if there is any evidence? What if the CM of Gilgit or somebody from there sends something… some proof? Photos? Videos?”
“I spoke to Faiz this morning.”
“My brot… that Faiz?”
“Yes. He knows about what can happen here. He is ready to help hold the firing from his side.”
“Why would he do that?”
“For you.”
Iram’s mouth dropped open.
“And for the business plan I sent him.”
“When?”
“The week after we returned.”
“You made it?”
“You had committed to it. And I wanted him to create an independent entity in Nagar. It’s good to take our people off Pakistani persecution and regime. Even if in small financial ways.”
She remained silent, processing everything.
He had kept her word? He had kept in touch with her brother?
They were tight enough for Faiz to help him?
She hadn’t emailed Mehrunisa after those photographs of Yathaarth’s Annaparashan.
Now, with what was going on, Iram figured it would become next to impossible to remain in touch with her.
“So what are you doing today?” Iram pushed, orienting herself to go one step at a time.
“Qureshi, Adil and I are leaving for Srinagar. Samar already flew this morning. I will speak to Zorji, get my story clear, and then address the party.”
“What’s the story? Were you there at the blast site and kept quiet to avoid a war or you were never there in the first place?”
He smirked. “I wish I knew.”
“Atharva,” she grunted.
“I will have that answer this afternoon after meeting Zorji.”
“Why are you so relaxed?”
“My son is sleeping on my chest. I cannot be anything but.”
Her face softened.
“What’s the worst that can happen, Atharva?”
He paused.
“Stepping down from the CM’s chair.”
Her mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it and worked a swallow. Her throat went dry.
“You… who if not you? KDP cannot allow that…”
“As I said, I will have more answers this afternoon.”
“Are you sure you are not acting just the way Momina Aslam wants you to act? Because this endgame sounds exactly like what she wants. Maybe all her moves are pushing you towards that.”
“I have been checkmated, Iram. I say I did not go to the mosque and she will keep throwing more evidences, making me into an anti-national liar. Death by a thousand cuts. If I say I went, and hid it, it’s my personal political suicide.
This SIT is a way to slow things down. And wait for the next worst thing to happen.
She knows she has me trapped. I am choosing the lesser of all evils. ”
Iram didn’t have anything to say to that.
Her eyes too did not have the strength to keep looking into his.
This powerful man, self-made and forged in fire, having won a position with sweat, blood and tears, not for its perks but for its opportunities, worked tirelessly through these years to make his Kashmir a city of modern legends — brought to his knees and still looking just as steadfast as he had that moment he had won the election.
“Iram.”
She raised her gaze to his.
“Start packing. We are returning to Srinagar by this week’s end.”
“But there is still one more month left for winter session.”
“I must be in Srinagar for a while. And I have more travel between Srinagar and Delhi coming up. It’s better we anchor at home.”