Page 105 - Leadership in the Indian Army

salty or too bland for his taste. The rice was judged either too greasy or

too dry, the bread declared too doughy or too crispy. Rasheed's
faultfinding left her stricken in the kitchen with self-doubt.

When she brought him his plate, the national anthem was playing on

the radio.

"I made sabzi," she said.

"Put it down and be quiet."

After the music faded, a man's voice came on the radio. He announced

himself as Air Force Colonel Abdul Qader. He reported that earlier in the

day the rebel Fourth Armored Division had seized the airport and key
intersections in the city. Kabul Radio, the ministries of Communication

and the Interior, and the Foreign Ministry building had also been

captured. Kabul was in the hands of the people now, he said proudly.

Rebel MiGs had attacked the Presidential Palace. Tanks had broken into
the premises, and a fierce battle was under way there. Daoud's loyalist

forces were all but defeated, Abdul Qader said in a reassuring tone.

Days later, when the communists began the summary executions of
those connected with Daoud Khan's regime, when rumors began floating

about Kabul of eyes gouged and genitals electrocuted in the

Pol-e-Charkhi Prison, Mariam would hear of the slaughter that had taken
place at the Presidential Palace. Daoud Khan hadbten killed, but not

before the communist rebels had killed some twenty members of his

family, including women and grandchildren. There would be rumors that
he had taken his own life, that he'd been gunned down in the heat of

battle; rumors that he'd been saved for last, made to watch the massacre

of his family, then shot.