Conspiracy Theory

"Do we issue an official statement yet ?", he asked, sitting at his desk in the Office, as he had been for the last 34 hours. He moved uncomfortably in his chair once again, thinking of the next step they must take, in order to fulfill their side of the deal.

"No, Sir", offered his Chief of Staff, "I think we must wait and watch what turn the situation takes."

"As you say, Spencer." said the President, "though I think we've waited for too long now. The Press Corps has been demanding a statement from us." The President never questioned the word of Andrew Spencer, his trusted Chief of Staff.

"A call for you, sir. From General Musharraf.", interrupted his secretary.

"There he goes again. Well, connect him."

"Bill ?"

"Yes."

"When are we getting him ?", Gen. Pervez Musharraf almost roared.

He was one man even the President feared. The kind of support that he enjoyed from the Pakistani army was envied even by the President of the United States. Musharraf had enough power to topple an entire democratic government and then to put the Prime Minister behind bars, all this in front of the bewildered eyes of the rest of the democratic world. And Clinton knew exactly what he could - and would - do if they did not manage to keep their part of the deal. All through the goings-on, Pervez had proved a hard nut to crack.

"We're trying our best. We have sent one of our men on the U.N. Delegation that will be negotiating with them.", the President offered.

"I already know that. Thompson & his team will be in Kandahar in 2 hours and 13 minutes from now. And he better do the job right. I have men posted at Kandahar Airport to take care of him if he fails."

"Yes, of course, Thompson has been with the Agency long enough for us to bank on him for a task such as this. Trust him to get Masood out. In another 24 hours. If the Indians don't agree to your demands straightaway, that is. Why did your men take back the deadline? Now you're giving the Indians time to react. And that might not exactly be advantageous to you and to me."

"They had to. We don't want the passengers, we want Azhar, remember. You see, Masood Azhar is much more important to me than Nawaz was to you. And you must not forget, Mr. President, that I have executed my part of the deal only halfway. Nawaz Sharif is down, but not out. If you don't get Azhar for me in the next 24 hours, Nawaz will live."

"When have you scheduled the trial for?"

"The day I get Azhar in my hands."

The phone clicked.

"Well, so,", started the President, obviously beginning another round of heated discussion with his Chief of Staff.

"I heard the conversation.", said Spencer. "Trust me, Thompson knows his way. I am sure he'll handle the situation. My confidence in him has been boosted ever since he managed to form the U.N. delegation without a single Indian on it."

"But he comes into play only if the Indians don't accept the hijackers' demands beforehand, as I said.", repeated the President.

"No. I don't believe Prime Minister Vajpayee would concede to such demands. He has already issued a Press Statement saying so. And he faces more pressure to maintain the security and integrity of Kashmir than for releasing the hostages. Especially after the Kargil conflict which had caught them unawares.", explained Spencer.

"But why does Musharraf want Azhar so badly?", queried the President.

"Mohd. Iqbal from our Agency's bureau in Karachi will be reporting on the exact cause of that within the next 12 hours. I'm waiting for his call on my private line.", replied the Chief of Staff. "But we must not forget, Mr. President, how vital Azhar had been to capture the territory that is now Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Though I think there's more to it than meets the eye."

India, 26 December, 1999. 20:30h

"We will be on our way soon, Atalji, and we will bring back good news."

The Indian Minister for External Affairs, Jaswant Singh, said to his superior as he left for the chartered aircraft. He headed a three-member delegation representing India for the talks with the hijackers.

"And keep in mind that we can never risk the lives of 154 passengers on board, even though it may entail releasing Masood Azhar. But as a last option." As if to remind his colleague one last time.

Inside the aircraft, 21:00h

"You do not have permission to fly over Pakistani Air Space", the Pakistani Air Traffic Controller radioed to the aircraft.

"What do we do next, Sir" asked the Pilot.

"Ignore them and continue.", offered the Minister.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that, sir. Pakistani Air Traffic Control has the right to shoot us down if we don't heed their warning."

"Then fly back to New Delhi. - And radio the Delhi authorities that we're returning to Delhi because of a technical snag."

"Sir, " said the Pilot, an hour later, "our Ambassador in Pakistan has spoken to the Pakistani ATC and has procured permission for us to land. We can now proceed to Kandahar in a few minutes."

"OK", Singh nodded.

Kandahar, 27 December, 1999, 00:30h

The Indian Delegation awaited a call from the hijackers after they arrived. They had been intimated that the Indians had reached the Airport sometime ago.

"Should we speak to them?" asked one of the hijackers to his colleague.

"I don't think so- we have been warned, not to speak to any negotiators, unless Thompson is on the team."

"But will he come?"

"Let's wait for a day more. I suppose the General will try his best to get Thompson to meet us."

The Oval Office, 30 December, 02:00h

Spencer was rethinking the situation once again. "Do you think we should speak to the Indian Government to reconsider their decision?"

"As a last resort; if nothing else works our way.", offered the President. After all, it would be him, not Spencer, who would have to do the dirty work of speaking to the Indians about releasing a terrorist whom they have nothing to do with. - Well, almost nothing.

"I think you should place the call right away. That pest of a General is desperate to get his hands on Moulvi Masood Azhar, and this seems to me like a last resort anyway."

"OK, as you say. Ask Jamie to place the call to Prime Minister Vajpayee."

"Is that Prime Minister Vajpayee? This is Bill Clinton calling."

...

...

"I'm surprised at how you've agreed to free Masood Azhar so soon, Prime Minister."

"You may not have an idea of the situation back here," explained the Indian Prime Minister, "but we are under tremendous pressure from our own people to free the terrorists instead of risking the lives of innocent civilians."

"I appreciate your wise decision, Mr. Vajpayee. Thank you.": was all the President could utter. They had won the seemingly impossible battle without even a tussle. He smiled at his Chief of Staff.

Spencer did not notice the President: he was staring at the floor.

The Oval Office, 31 December, 13:00h

"A call from Islamabad for you, Sir", Jamie interrupted.

"Well, connect him, of course, of course."

"Pervez speaking."

"Bill here. Go on."

"Nawaz will be in your possession by noon tomorrow. I'm glad you managed to execute your part of the deal."

"My pleasure. I already knew we were going to get Masood out of prison, for you.", the President winked at Spencer. He did not need to tell the General how "they" had managed to get Azhar released.

"So we're done with our deal now."

"Yes, we are. Do you wish to discuss anything more?"

"No. Thank you."

Click.

Military Base, Karachi, 31 December,

"Masood, my dear, glad to have you back.", greeted General Pervez Musharraf.

Azhar seemed too dizzy to talk; must have been those 5 long years in prison in Srinagar. When he worked for the ISI before being caught, no one could question his alertness. He would have tackled his opponent way before he could even think of attacking. Something seemed amiss today.

"Sir, it would be best to let him rest for a day or two, before we begin to deal with him."

The General agreed to leave him alone and promised to visit again later. He could not figure out what, if anything, was wrong with Masood. He certainly did not seem his own self today.

Kandahar Air Base, 31 December, 15:00h

Jaswant Singh and his colleagues were at Kandahar Airport. They had brought with them Maulana Masood Azhar, who had already been handed over to the Taliban. Now they were waiting for the released passengers, with whom they planned to return to their homeland, in time for the Millennium celebrations.

As they greeted the passengers, they shuddered at the thought of how the hostages must have felt emotionally, being bound within the claustrophobic aircraft for 7 days. They were, at last, free to go home. A journey that started out as a 3-hour flight ultimately took 7 days to end. And it would probably be a lifetime before any one of them could forget about it. They bid farewell to the aircraft which had been their home for the longest week of their lives, as the specially commissioned flight took off for Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.

Military Hospital, 2 January, 2000, 00:30h

"I'm afraid he's dead." reported the Doctor on duty. The General looked on. The Doctor continued, "He had been heavily drugged. We could not have done anything to save him. He had been comatose for atleast 36 hours now."

General Musharraf was seen thumping his fists vigorously at the only wall in the room. He knew he had lost. Both, Masood Azhar, and Nawaz Sharif. And the war too.

Back in India, the wry smile on the Prime Minister's face on the first day of the New Year remained the only indicator to his diplomatic success. He had won the battle a second time today, he thought, after the Kargil War.