The Three Warriors
By Manas Gupta
Location: Rashtriya Rifles Camp, Pahalgam, J&K.
Hawaldar Shankar Singh got off the army truck with his rucksack and looked around the camp. It wasn't the kind of camp he was used to and he could sense the tension in the atmosphere. The Rashtriya Rifles was an organisation formed to combat terrorism in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and was made up of all kinds of units and Shankar Singh belonged to such a unit. He went and reported to his Subedar Major for duty. After his introductions to the rest of the unit members he was sent to his allotted tent.
"Come inside son", a shrill voice boomed as he was stepping in the tent. He looked up to see a fat Sikh soldier in an olive green vest and dark green pants reading a newspaper. "Hawaldar Major Gurmel Singh Sandhu from 2ed Sikh Light Infantry" he said without getting up "and this is Lance Nayak Suresh Mahajan from the 10-para commandos" he said pointing to the figure sleeping on the adjoining cot. Shankar Singh immediately saluted the Sikh and introduced himself. After a little while Mahajan also got up and giving a smile to Shankar, which revealed the absence of two front teeth, he proceeded to put him at ease.
"Imammuddin has struck again Yaar," he said to no one in particular. "This time he killed two buffaloes and kidnapped the senile Mukhiya of the neighbouring village's panchayat. Of course they will have to release him soon, because nobody is going to pay a ransom for him."
" Yeah man." chipped in Gurmel, "this Imammuddin is turning out to be a real pain. We need to eliminate him as soon as possible."
"Who is this Imammuddin?" asked Shankar Singh.
"He is a monster," said Mahajan. "He kills left and right without mercy and heads the commando unit of the terrorist outfit known as Barkat-ul-mujahiddin. Rumour has it that he is an Afghan and he killed a hundred and twenty two Russian soldiers during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. "
"How come you know so much Suresh Bhai? I guess being in the Para commandos must have given you a lot of experience," said Shankar with awe in his voice.
"Oh yeah he is tough," said Gurmel. "In fact he once managed to knock out the entire 10-para commandos." Seeing the disbelief writ large on Shankar's face he continued, "of course that is entirely due to the fact that he is their cook."
Mahajan obviously didn't like this introduction and counter-attacked. "Our esteemed Hawaldar Major," he said "is of course very experienced in counter-terrorism you know. After all serving as an orderly in the house of a Colonel for the last five years must have made him eligible for a Param Vir Chakra. "
"Watch your tongue you rotten, impotent son of jackal," shouted the enraged Sikh. Before Mahajan could come up with a retort an officer came inside their tent. "What the hell is happening here," he bellowed?
The three at once came to attention. The officer, a Major Rathore continued to shout at the three soldiers calling them the dirt of the Indian Army and comparing them to the rear end of the endangered wild ass found in the Rann of Kutch.
Major Rathore had joined the Army with illusions of fame and glory, but after 15 years of service, he had remained a Major with nothing illustrious to his name. When he had been transferred to the Rashtriya Rifles, he had sensed an opportunity for a promotion and a couple of medals, but he had not been able to do anything in the last eight months of his tenure in the strife-torn state of Kashmir. Imammuddin, he felt, was his ticket to some fame. Born to a well to do family he regarded all men below the officer rank as filth.
On that same day, his informer got him news that Imammuddin was holed up in a cave nearby, and he immediately jumped into action. With a force of 20 men, which included the trio of Shankar, Gurmel and Mahajan, he left for the cave.
The location of the cave was about 38 km from the camp and after about 20 km the terrain became tough and mountainous, with the soldiers having to go the rest of the way on foot. The troops made their way silently towards their destination; eyes alert, guns ready, moving with practiced co-ordination. Shankar who wasn't used to the thin mountain air, had trouble keeping up and lagged behind. Gurmel, the fat Sikh who just needed an excuse to avoid any exertion kept him company and Mahajan too hovered near. The trio did not really get along with each other and frequently broke into arguments using new and innovative forms of abusive language, which could put many a writer to shame. Major Rathore, who was already tense, lost his temper when Gurmel rolled down a hill due to a push from Mahajan and ended up with his feet on top. While the rest of the soldiers were trying hard to control their laughter, the Major went down and gave the "three bafoons" another dressing down. He now realised that the three actually posed a threat to the success of the mission. So he sent the three on a separate errand.
"You three will go to the other side of the hill and scout for enemy snipers and signs for suspicious activity," he commanded in a stern voice.
While the rest of the soldiers continued towards their objective, egged on by the Major, the punished trio headed a separate direction, after giving each other some dirty looks. Major Rathore reached his objective in another hour-and-a-half. He surrounded the cave and placed himself at a safe distance, away from the line of fire. There was complete silence as the soldiers waited for Rathore to give the order to charge.
Meanwhile, the trio of Shankar, Gurmel and Mahajan reached a small stream, where they decide to fill their water bottles and rest a while. Not surprisingly, they were in the middle of another argument. While Shankar was insisting that camel's milk was the answer to treating infertility, Gurmel thought that mixing butter with the juice of bamboo shoots was the answer and Mahajan of course thought that an infertile person should be banished to the Andaman's.
During the course of this very outlandish squabble, Gurmel Singh went on to place his not so light frame on what he thought was a very nicely placed boulder. What he didn't know was that he was sitting next to the rear end of one of the most feared men in the Kashmir Valley. Self-styled Lieutenant Commander Imamuddin Khan was at the moment struggling to stop his shivering, as he stood on all fours without any clothes on with most of his body hidden behind that very large boulder.
On recalling this incident later, Imamuddin is said to have cursed all the species of the common frog. Just as the three soldiers were planning to move on, a frog that might in this circumstance be described as a naughty tadpole in his teens, decided that he wanted a different place to sit on. The frog made an appreciable attempt to cross Imammuddin's body, but unfortunately collided with his armpit. As fate would have it, Imammuddin was extremely ticklish and this collision made Imamuddin violently move his arm, which sent him, Gurmel and the frog tumbling into the stream. While the frog understandably didn't stay to vent his anger at the carelessness of the militant, both Gurmel and Imammuddin were rooted to their spots, paralysed with fear. Gurmel was more shocked from the fall while Imammuddin feared for his life. Mahajan and Shankar though unaware of Imammuddin's identity, apprehended him as his antics came under the category of suspicious for them.
In the intervening time, Major Rathore was justifiably irate when his charge in the cave revealed only one sheep, four mountain goats and a young sleeping shepherd aged about 8 years who also went by the name of Imammuddin.
Epilogue
From A News Agency
Srinagar. Three commandos of The Rashtriya Rifles apprehended hardcore militant, self-styled Lieutenant Commander Imammuddin Khan yesterday. The three commandos, who were on a routine patrol mission, spied the militant in the treacherous terrain of Pahalgam and managed to arrest him without firing a single shot. The three have been recommended for the Vir Chakra by their commanding officer. Imammuddin is an Afghan national who saw action during the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union. He was wanted in a number of cases, and with his arrest the Army claims to have uncovered an operation to unleash a string of explosions all across the Valley.
Copyright Manas Gupta
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