Ankit Chawla

It seems like the book has been written for the audience of the Instagram age, there is a lot of entertaining switching of perspectives in the book, one moment you are following Inspector Saralkar in his investigation into the crime and in the other, you find yourself in drama practice with PSI Motkar. The plot of the book is also very interesting, since I try to solve the crime by myself whenever I am reading or listening to crime stories, I am engrossed in the story wondering would I be a good cop if I was in Saralkar’s place? I found the book great and I think you should read it too. I advise that an adult audience read this book since many things in this book will only be appreciated by an adult audience.

It’s commendable that the writer decided to record the stories of all these people who have suffered so much because of war. These heart-wrenching stories will have an everlasting impact on you, deep within my heart I wish that these people could be consoled somehow, that their pain could be eased and their trauma erased but unfortunately this is the world we live in, where their damage is so irreversible that nothing can bring back what they’ve lost. Keep in mind that behind every bullet fired and every bomb detonated there were living, breathing, loving people who lost their homes, their families and their lives because of the violence. I don’t think that fact can be emphasized enough.

This book highlights the fact that the Indian security forces have some elements in them that are unprofessional in their dealings with the crimes committed by the ruling government and how they have become a tool for the government’s agenda. It brings to light the fact that these security agencies when under pressure from the ruling government often punish innocent individuals instead of taking their time to capture the real culprits behind heinous crimes. Surprisingly, our security agencies are only accountable to the government and not to the people of the country which creates incentives for them to keep their political masters happy. These political masters use the agencies to build their narratives to influence people. I am a firm believer in the fact that the people are supreme in a democracy, which makes me wonder if we are inadvertently adding fuel to the fire that has engulfed our democracy? The sad reality is that as a society, we want instant justice. We keep assuming that security agencies are slow in their work and demand quick and decisive action which creates pressure on the government. The government puts pressure on the agencies, and the vicious cycle continues. I think as a society, we should accept the fact that justice takes time and patience and it can’t be delivered in an instant no matter how much we want it to. That being said, making the security agencies more accountable is very important and must be accomplished for our democracy to flourish and thrive.