Mistaken Allegiance

In the 1990s thousands of Kashmiri pundit families living for generations in Kashmir Valley were uprooted by the insurgents who infiltrated from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Ironically, their properties were usurped and they were driven out of their own land to other parts of India, such as Jammu, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, etc. Having been caught in a political maelstrom in their own land and forced to migrate, the Kashmiri pundits strongly resented their refugee status and found living conditions in other cities harsh. Some educated Kashmiri youth failed to get jobs in cities and towns where they took refuge and were forced to become deviants. The poignant story, which has a strong domestic flavour, mainly focuses on one such deracinated family that settles down in Hyderabad and the challenges and torments faced by the protagonist, Shyam Kumar, the eldest son of his parents. By a freak of fortune, his name was changed to Shoab Akthar and is inducted into ISIS to join militants in India and cause death and destruction. Being a staunch nationalist and patriot, his allegiance to his country is paramount and he does maximum damage to the militants' network.