A Death in Denmark

   The author is young. She peers out of the photograph, bare arms, tattoo on wrist and a closely cropped, punk haircut. It left one imagining more tattoos and rings in unmentionable parts of her body. She is Indian, has Danish citizenship and lives in the US. 
 
      Amulya Malladi has written a most enjoyable book called “A Death in Denmark”. I loved the protagonist Gabriel Praest. (the ‘a’ in Praest merges with the ‘e’ and I can’t bring about that magic on my keyboard.) So, I shall stick to the name Gabriel. The story revolves around death of a rightist politician. An immigrant from Iraq is accused of the murder. Gabriel, an ex-cop, presently a private investigator, was hounded out of police service for launching an unauthorized investigation into corruption by a politician. He also plays the guitar in the evenings at assorted watering holes in Denmark. He has a grown-up daughter. His ex-partner’s husband is a lawyer. Gabriel, who shares a functional relationship with his ex, has his digs at her husband’s office. He is also wealthy, dresses well, is perennially upgrading his house, has a taste for exquisite wine, reads/ quotes philosophy (Kierkegaard/Nietzsche/ Sartre) and rides a bicycle to work.
 
    Well, I liked the guy. Half the battle is won when you’ve created a very likable detective/ private investigator/ amateur cop. And if there is subtle humour, easy readability and the bad guys are caught in the end, (I hate uncertain endings, in books or movies) then you have a winning formula.
 
The story begins with the World War II, when Gestapo rounds up Jewish refugees and merciless kill the family, including two children,  that hides them. There was apparently a highly placed Danish mole, a collaborator who gives up the location of Jewish refugees. Many years later, the entire affair is caught up in the politics and business of the day. Sanne Melgaard, the woman politician had been busy investigating the identity of the mole and her research gets her into uncomfortable places. The immigrant Yousuf Ahmed is framed for her murder. Gabriel is pushed into the case by his ex-lover Leila, who believes that Yousuf is innocent. Dead bodies turn up and several brazen threats are made to dissuade Gabriel from digging further into the case. 
Along the way, Gabriel has the help of his good friends from college and the Police chief Tommy himself. Finally, his investigation reaches to those right at the top of Danish politics.
  
This is a fast read and I am already looking forward to the next book in the series. However, there is underlying elitism in the food  they eat, clothes they wear etc and I am not sure that Private investigators have a rich lifestyle even in the developed world. Anyway, it is soothing to read of lives of privilege, than those trying to make ends meet.

 

Pakistan Watcher

The Pakistan High Commission in Chanakyapuri , New Delhi falls on my route for daily morning walk. I take a turn near the Nehru Park, where the rich and mighty park their huge cars and the Mem-saabs and Saabs are out for their daily constitutional. The path opposite to Nehru park abuts the back gate of Pakistan High Commission. That is where the visa seekers queue up early in the morning. They are mostly a ragged lot. Each hiding a story of tragedy and separation of bloodlines…A few men with ancient typewriters and make-shift tables and chairs sit on the sidewalk and assist visa seekers, maybe to  type and fill forms in Urdu. The queues are small but I can see that it involves long waiting times. I cheekily tell the missus, the rate at which those in India are told to go to Pakistan, we just might be queueing up some day here. A little way down is the US Embassy. A different lot are waiting their turn on the street. Mostly students accompanied by parents, both middle class and upper class.

             When a bunch of well armed citizens from Pakistan reached Mumbai and shot down 166 odd people who were just about going about their daily business, most Indians stopped entertaining kind thoughts about that country. It made a stronger impression than the fateful day that they attacked the Indian Parliament and killed our policemen. During the Kargil War, many soldiers of Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry lost their lives. The bodies were not taken back by Pakistan and they pretended that these dead bodies are of anonymous Mujahideen and did not belong to Pakistan. A country that disowns its own, fell in my eyes. 

 

     I have been reading Dawn, a prominent Pakistani newspaper, for a good 26 years. One can’t help feeling that while Indian media has become very polarized and commercialized, Dawn has maintained a certain degree of quality and editorial integrity. In recent times I’ve started listening to a few Pakistani vloggers who are unabashed critics of their Army and politicians. Nowadays I am looking forward to my daily dose of entertainment from that hapless country. 

I had a few good friends from the Pakistan Administrative service (or the DMG as it was called) 14 years back, during my stint in Australia. I always wondered how very much like mainstream Indians, the UP/Bihar/Haryana/Punjab types, they are. They were good friends, intelligent and great company. Over the years, I’ve tried to be in touch with at least one of them, who was closest to me. But I realized that an Officer in service would have much to answer for if they continue to be in touch with Indians. Whereas I, despite belonging to the Indian Ministry of Defence, had nothing much to worry. And I thought that’s where we, as a country, trump over them.

                 Imran Khan’s party, ie the PTI has gone on offensive against the Army, the most important player in the power structure of Pakistan. They had trained their guns on Qamar Javed Bajwa, the erstwhile Army Chief. The present Army chief, apparently an appointee of the PDM, the coalition of seasoned politicians presently ruling Pakistan, has also come for strident criticism. With huge debt crisis and terrorism by TTP added to their cup of woes, things are not looking good for them. Many Indians now believe that this situation in the neighbouring country would keep them busy with their problems, thereby relieving us of terrorism through a thousand cuts, a policy initiated by Zia up Haq and practiced by successive military and civilian governments. 

         Qamar Bajwa, the erstwhile Army Chief, appeared to be a believer in civilian supremacy, a refreshing change from the control freaks in their Army. He was intelligent enough to have a cease fire agreement with India, while the Afghan situation was getting out of hand, and the US propped regime was about to fall like nine pins. With the imminent return of Taliban, there was risk of refugee inflow from the western border. By signing a cease fire agreement with India, he achieved a peaceful eastern border that could let him concentrate on the fluid situation across the Durand line.  (While it suited India too since the situation across LAC with the China wasn’t looking good). Bajwa also publicly postured that he wanted to keep the Army out of politics. Unfortunately, Pakistani politics is so much intertwined with the Army in the power structure that there truly was no way it could be achieved. While Imran Khan blamed USA (Amreeka, as the Pak anchors say) for his dislodgement from power, Bajwa knew that severing ties with US would hurt Pakistan more. Some of their most effective weapon systems and platforms are of US origin, harking back to relationship several decades old. Hence he rose up to defend Pakistan Army’s ties with USA. The defence equipment sourced from China, their strategic ally, are not very reliable. (It is the world’s worst kept secret, if whispers from recipient nations are to be believed. But that’s another story altogether.)

But I could see Pakistani diplomats/ defence analysts castigating Bajwa for not propping up Imran Khan and for backing the Sharif -Zardari duo behind the scenes. In Pakistani social media, PTI (ie Imran Khan’s party) supporters ran a huge campaign against the Army chief. The Army Chief’s personal financial details are in the public domain. The telephone conversations of many PTI leaders, family of judges and even the PM himself have been leaked. Everyone’s convinced that it is the spy agency ISI’s doing. The fact that senior Army Officers in Pakistan are allotted land in posh colonies run by the DHA (Defence Housing Authority) is a great source of amusement to those in India. The unreleased historical data of land allotments to the predecessors of Bajwa might be explosive. Most retired senior bureaucrats and uniformed Officers in India live in modest 3 bedroom apartments (like yours truly) and lead a spartan life. I suppose it’d be a good idea for Pakistan to discontinue this and allot land only to widows of those who lost lives in defending the country against terrorists. 

     There are multiple problems that besiege that country. A broken educational system that places too much emphasis on religion, elitist capture of institutions, messy public finances, burgeoning population, dysfunctional healthcare system, all feeding each other. The Army’s claims of staying away from politics wasn’t such a strong resolve, after all. It only took violence against Army installations on 9^th May 2023 by PTI supporters, to drive the Pak Army back to their old games. Sympathy to that country flows only from a few countries like China, Saudi Arabia and UAE, who also suffer from aid-fatigue. However, thinking of the few good men I’ve known, who belong to that country, I wish them peace and reconciliation.