Encounter of Gazi Baba

49

The intercepted message read "V-2 Allah ko pyare ho gaye. Allah unhe jannat nasib kare." The usual Jaish bombast was missing and the voice was subdued. The man most wanted ever since the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 was dead. Shahbaz Khan who took pride in calling himself 'Gazi - the conqueror - Baba' had fallen to BSF bullets. The operation that started at 0300 AM lasted for well over 10 hours. It was August 30, 2003. Though the entire world saw this operation live on television I desisted from confirming it. The words of General Nirbhay Sharma - the Corps Commander - were continuously ringing in my ears. "So many Gazi Babas have been killed by so many agencies since December 2001," he had told me the previous day so I wanted to be doubly sure before announcing it to the waiting media.....