A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Encyclopedia
A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008)
is a comic novel by the Pakistani writer Mohammed Hanif
based on the plane crash that killed General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, former president of Pakistan
. The book has a dark satirical style.
, president of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, about which there are many conspiracy theories
. After witnessing a tank parade in Bahawalpur, Zia left the small Punjabi town in the C-130 Hercules aircraft designated 'Pak One'.
Shortly after a smooth take-off, the control tower loses contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air later claimed it was flying erratically, before nosediving and exploding on impact, killing General Zia and several other senior army generals, in addition to Arnold Raphel, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan. Zia had ruled Pakistan for 11 years prior to his death.
The book develops through the eyes of the narrator, Ali Shigri, a Junior Officer in the Pakistani Air Force who seeks revenge for the death of his father, which he is convinced, although apparently a suicide, was orchestrated by General Zia himself.
is a comic novel by the Pakistani writer Mohammed Hanif
Mohammed Hanif
Mohammed Hanif is a Pakistani writer and journalist.-Life:He was born in Okara. He graduated from Pakistan Air Force Academy as a pilot officer, but subsequently left to pursue a career in journalism...
based on the plane crash that killed General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, former president of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The book has a dark satirical style.
Plot summary
The central theme of the book is a fictitious story behind the real life plane crash which killed General ZiaMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
, president of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, about which there are many conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories about the death of Zia-ul-Haq
The President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, about which several conspiracy theories exist.-Crash:...
. After witnessing a tank parade in Bahawalpur, Zia left the small Punjabi town in the C-130 Hercules aircraft designated 'Pak One'.
Shortly after a smooth take-off, the control tower loses contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air later claimed it was flying erratically, before nosediving and exploding on impact, killing General Zia and several other senior army generals, in addition to Arnold Raphel, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan. Zia had ruled Pakistan for 11 years prior to his death.
The book develops through the eyes of the narrator, Ali Shigri, a Junior Officer in the Pakistani Air Force who seeks revenge for the death of his father, which he is convinced, although apparently a suicide, was orchestrated by General Zia himself.
Real persons appearing as characters
- General Muhammad Zia-ul-HaqMuhammad Zia-ul-HaqGeneral Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
- General Akhtar Abdur RahmanAkhtar Abdur RahmanGeneral Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan , born in Rampur, was a 4-star general in the Pakistan Army. He served as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1987–1988 and as Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence from 1980-1987...
- General Mirza Aslam BegMirza Aslam BegGeneral Mirza Aslam Beg, SBt, HI, NI, afwc, psc , is a retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army succeeding General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter died in an air crash on 17 August 1988...
- US Ambassador Arnold Raphel
- Director of CIA operations Charles Cogan
- Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
- Romanian dictator Nicolae CeauşescuNicolae CeausescuNicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
- US Political Activist Joanne HerringJoanne HerringJoanne Herring is a Houston socialite, political activist, businesswoman, and former talk show host.In the 1980s Herring played a role in helping U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson persuade the U.S. government to train and arm Mujahideen resistance fighters to fight in the Soviet war in...
Fictitious Characters
- Under Officer Ali Shigri -- protagonist, leader of "Silent Drill Squad" at Pakistan Air Force AcademyPakistan Air Force Academy"RAF Risalpur", "Risalpur Airbase/Airfield" & "Pakistan Air Force/PAF Base Risalpur" redirects here.The Pakistan Air Force Academy also known as PAFA, is an accredited co-educational four-year college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the Pakistan Air Force...
, RisalpurRisalpurRisalpur is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 15 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin some 1014 feet above sea level, it is bounded on the south and west by the Kabul and... - Under Officer Obaid "Baby O" -- Shigri's roommate at Pakistan Air Force Academy, who develops the idea of crashing his plane into an area where Zia is present (in manner of Mattias Rust's flight into Moscow)
- Lt. "loot" Bannon -- USAF Instructor who develops "Silent Drill"
- "Uncle Starchy" -- launderer for PAF Academy, who keeps jars of krait venom which he terms "death nectar"
- Zainab -- blind rape-victim whom Zia sentences to death (through stoning) for adultery, and who curses Zia
- Maj. Kiani -- ISI officer who pushes Shigri to sign off that his father was a suicide (may be based on current Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, but not identical--as revealed at the novel's end) and transports Shigri between prisons