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| India-Pakistan |
| I was asked to kill Zulfikar Bhutto |
| 2008-03-30 |
| Mehboob Elahi, resident of Park Circus in Kolkata, was only 19 when he crossed over into Pakistan for a better livelihood in 1971. He was naive and thought his prospects would be brighter in an Islamic country. Arrested in Lahore on June 23, 1977, Elahi was tried by a Pakistan army court, which convicted him of espionage and sentenced him to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment on August 7, 1980. He was released on December 1, 1996. "I was young and a bit like a vagabond. In our mosques we were told that Muslims had better prospects in Pakistan. That's how I went to Pakistan. Things were not at all rosy there and I tried to get out as well. But I was afraid that I could get caught," says Elahi. "The worst was the period between the capture and the conviction. I was kept in solitary confinement in the Field Intelligence Unit 619 cell, a 400-metre-long structure with about 20 cells. It was in Lahore, near a military field where horse shows were held every winter. "I was given black kurtas and pajamas without lace, string or buttons. I could not make a sound, not even cough. Woken up at 3 a.m. every day, I had to clean my cell first. Then the gate would open for two minutes. I had to run to the bathroom, relieve myself and run back into my cell. Then there were some exercises inside the cell before namaz. A puri and a cup of tea used to be my breakfast. From 8 a.m. I had to stand still and was not allowed to sit or walk around. The Quran was the only book given to read. Around 12 noon two rotis and dal would arrive. I could sit while eating. Once again, I had two minutes to wash my plates and get back to attention position. At 2 p.m. I was allowed to sit, but no lying down. Thus progressed the day," recalls Elahi. While interrogations did not have any specific timing, Elahi dreaded every minute between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. "After a day's interrogation, you would concede even to have murdered Hitler," he shudders. "First, they politely asked me to accept that I was an Indian spy. Then, they did not let me sleep. Strong lights focused on my eyes and the sentry's stick came down at the slightest hint of my eyes shutting. They tied my hands behind and hung me head down from a fan and turned it on full-speed. They rapped me so hard that I felt my limbs split into pieces. Then there would be a sudden break from all this torture for three weeks. When I start to think it was over, they start it all over again. I abused them, since it gave me the strength to forget the pain momentarily. For me, sleeplessness was the worst till that fateful day," he says. On that fateful day, Elahi's torso was burnt with kerosene-lit torches. He suffered 25 per cent burns and the army doctors were doubtful of his survival. It took him three and a half months to recuperate, says Elahi, raising his shirt to expose the marks of brutality, his companion for the rest of his life. Elahi spent his sentence in jails of Karachi, Faisalabad, Kotlakhpat, Gujranwala and Hyderabad. "I was known as 'Pardesi' there. I wrote petitions to Supreme Court judges on behalf of convicts and got many released. But shoddy treatment was meted out to Indian prisoners. We were given 1/7th of a Lifebuoy soap and 5gm of mustard oil every Sunday. I climbed on to the roof of the Hyderabad jail and shouted 'Bande Mataram' and threatened to kill myself. Standing there, I made the sentries and the superintendent swear by the Quran to give us clothes, decent food and newspapers. After I climbed down, they broke their promises and confined me inside an iron frame for 40 days." After his release in 1994, Elahi was re-arrested and brought to Khairpur Jail. It was there he met Sarabjit Singh and Malkiat Singh, who were accused in a case of bomb blasts. "We were in the same cell. Sarabjit was known as Manjit Singh. He told me he was an agricultural labourer who lived close to the border and that one night, he got drunk and entered Pakistan by mistake. He must have been aged around 28 then. He was a quiet and recluse kind of a guy and I don't believe he is a spy. It would be extremely unfortunate if he is hanged after serving more time in prison than any regular lifer." Elahi is also peeved at the absolute silence over Malkiat. "His family, in Tarn Taran in Punjab, is not coming forward to demand his release. The silence over Malkiat is actually sending Sarabjit to the gallows," Elahi gets agitated. Elahi has had some illustrious jail mates and visitors during his 20 years. "I have had Begum Bhutto visiting me, and Benazir, too. I have spent time in the same cell as Jam Saki, the Sindh Liberation Army commander, and Wali Khan, the Muttahida Quami Movement leader." Elahi pauses and drops a bombshell. "I remember it was the time of martial law in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been arrested and sentenced to death. Bhutto was lodged in Kotlakhpat Jail in Lahore while I was under trial and kept in military quarter guard. One of Bhutto's supporters in jail tried to smuggle out a message to 70, Cliffton, the official Bhutto residence. It was intercepted and I took the blame upon myself. Later that night I was taken to a room in which sat Col Khaled Adib, commanding officer of 24 Punjab Regiment, in-charge of Kotlakhpat, Brigadier Mohd Salim Zia and Major Mulazzim Hussain, commanding officer of 619 Field Intelligence Unit. They pulled out a signed blank cheque of Habib Bank and asked me to enter whatever sum I could think of. They told me that I would be taken to Kotlakhpat Jail and a group of commandos would be provided. At midnight, there would be a false alarm, dispersing the sentries. I will have to go in and kill Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. "I was shaking when Col Adib added, 'Don't worry, the doctors all belong to the forces. They will promptly declare you to be mentally unstable and you will go scot-free. You will be released at a place of your choice with the money in your bag.' Later that night, I started sloganeering and shouting about their plans and, since my cell was close to the street, people in cars stopped by and listened to me. Word spread even to the embassies. Next morning, I was blindfolded and taken to the Brigade Headquarters and served with an ultimate warning that my court martial would be expedited. "Had I killed Bhutto, they would have presented the things in such a way that it would appear as if an Indian national had sneaked in and killed the most popular Pakistani political leader. The next few days were strange. I would be woken up at 2 a.m. and driven to a desolate runway in chains. Someone held a gun to my head, asking me to offer my final namaz. Another guy would come running, shouting that final orders have still not arrived. "There was water all over the floor of my cell so that I could not sleep. I boycotted the court martial and got my years. They could not liquidate me as I had been writing to all the judges and human rights bodies and even once to Indira Gandhi. When a human rights delegation visited the jail, they hid me in the gallows. I wrote to Indira about the plight of Indian prisoners in Pakistan, about the clothes they got to wear, how they braved the harsh winters without quilts or woollens, bad food, the interrogation sessions, the horror of huge dogs waiting to pounce on you," Elahi breaks down. "It is not one Sarabjit. They are in thousands. Even in 1994, in Hyderabad jail I saw three sardars, POWs since 1965. They were acute mental cases. In our country, thousands of crores are spent on cricket. Can't decent clothes, medicines and food be reached to them?" he asks and signs off. By the time I closed my diary and packed my bag, Mehboob Elahi, now 56, had disappeared and milled into the madding Kolkata crowd on a late Saturday evening. |
| Posted by:john frum |