Salman Rushdie Midnight's children Salman Rushdie Midnight's ...

capture. How will you work? In canine units of three persons and one dog.
What unusual features? Absence of officer personnel, necessity of taking o
wn decisions, concomitant requirement for high Islamic sense of self disci
pline and responsibility. Purpose of units? To root out undesirable elemen
ts. Nature of such elements? Sneaky, well disguised, could be anyone. Know
n intentions of same? To be abhorred: destruction of family life, murder o
f God, expropriation of landowners, abolition of film censorship. To what
ends? Annihilation of the State, anarchy, foreign domination. Accentuating
causes of concern? Forthcoming elections; and subsequently, civilian rule
. (Political prisoners have been are being freed. All types of hooligans a
re abroad.) Precise duties of units? To obey unquestioningly; to seek unfl
aggingly; to arrest remorselessly. Mode of procedure? Covert; efficient; q
uick. Legal basis of such detentions? Defence of Pakistan Rules, permittin
g the pick up of undesirables, who may be held incommunicado for a period
of six months. Footnote: a renewable period of six months. Any questions?
No. Good. You are cutia Unit 22. She dog badges will be sewn to lapels. Th
e acronym cutia, of course, means bitch.
And the man dog?
Cross legged, blue eyed, staring into space, he sits beneath a tree. Bodhi
trees do not grow at this altitude; he makes do with a chinar. His nose: bu
lbous, cucumbery, tip blue with cold. And on his head a monk's tonsure wher
e once Mr Zagallo's hand. And a mutilated finger whose missing segment fell
at Masha Miovic's feet after Glandy Keith had slammed. And stains on his f
ace like a map… 'Ekkkhh thoo!' (He spits.)
His teeth are stained; betel juice reddens his gums. A red stream of expecto
rated paan fluid leaves his lips, to hit, with commendable accuracy, a beaut
ifully wrought silver spittoon, which sits before him on the ground. Ayooba
Shaheed Farooq are staring in amazement. 'Don't try to get it away from him,
' Sgt Mjr Najmuddin indicates the spittoon, 'It sends him wild.' Ayooba begi
ns, 'Sir sir I thought you said three persons and a ', but Najmuddin barks,
'No questions! Obedience without queries! This is your tracker; that's that.
Dismiss.'
At that time, Ayooba and Farooq were sixteen and a half years old. Shaheed (
who had lied about his age) was perhaps a year younger. Because they were so
young, and had not had time to acquire the type of memories which give men
a firm hold on reality, such as memories of love or famine, the boy soldiers
were highly susceptible to the influence of legends and gossip. Within twen
ty four hours, in the course of mess hall conversations with other cutia uni
ts, the man dog had been fully mythologized… 'From a really important family
, man!' 'The idiot child, they put him in the Army to make a man of him!' 'H
ad a war accident in '65, yaar, can't won't remember a thing about it!' 'Lis