‘This is a basic course spread over twenty-one days and after this are tougher courses that turn coal into Koh-i-Noor. So let’s not waste any more time and begin with a prayer. We are going to offer the night prayer, which is offered after the nightly prayer and before the first prayer of the day. It is an optional prayer, beyond the five daily obligatory prayers. Even though it is optional, its observance will give you divine inner strength and understanding,’ the Ustaad said.

The recruits knelt in prayer. Thereafter, they offered the dawn prayer, which is performed just before dawn. It is the first of the five daily prayers.

‘The time of the dawn prayer is a time of light and spiritual blessings,’ the Ustaad explained. ‘There is a saying that whoever performs the dawn prayer and the prayer before sunset will get blessed.’

Thereafter, it was time for prayers and requests. ‘To stay on the path of justice and holy struggle, to undo the wrongs done to the community. Repeat after me,’ the Ustaad instructed.

As the prayers ended, the Ustaad bellowed, ‘Now join me for a run, boys!’ and led the trainees around the perimeter of the plateau. Twelve rounds later, during which a few recruits slumped to the ground with exhaustion and had to be carried off the track to recuperate in a tent, the boys returned to the PT ground.

‘Now that your bodies have warmed up, it’s time to do some physical exercises,’ the Ustaad said. His aide, Kamal Afridi, stepped up and faced the trainees, who stood lined up in ten rows, each of which had ten recruits.

‘We begin with spot-jogging for three minutes, then we will do crunches and sit-ups,’ Afridi shouted at the top of his voice.

After the arduous physical training session, the recruits were given a simple but nourishing breakfast of milk, eggs and fruit. This was followed by a class on religious education and current affairs, which was taken by a cleric.

After that was a class on the handling of weapons. The Ustaad was joined by another instructor, who told the recruits to address him as ‘Chhote Ustaad ji’. Both the ustaads were almost identical in height (six feet), form (muscled) and the precise way in which they carried themselves.

‘Are they from the ISI or the Pakistani army?’ Sahil whispered to Atharv.

‘They must be from the Pakistani army. They look like professionals. But what’s the difference?’ Atharv responded.

There was a range of weapons laid out on tables draped with white sheets: AK-47s, AK-56s, AK-74s, Mauser pistols, .303 rifles, self-loading rifles and M16 automatic rifles, among several other kinds.