Atharv was staring wide-eyed at the tape-recorder. ‘Who is that toxic man? He is spewing so much venom against India. What a vile character!’

Sitting calmly with his arms crossed, Rohit asked, ‘So, who is this scoundrel crying for death for India? I will pump his chest with bullets.’

‘He is Nawaz Azhar, a top Pakistani terrorist-cum-recruiter,’ Shekhar said. ‘He is from Bahawalpur in Pakistan. He can make stones weep with his words. He spews hatred and venom at India in his speeches while mesmerizing his audience with distortions, lies and pure propaganda. He is LeT’s topmost recruiter and radicalizer and is widely respected by other pro-jihad organizations in Pakistan. A silver-tongued merchant of death.

‘He is an expert in brainwashing impressionable young minds, leading them to their doom with talk of religion, revenge and martyrdom. His team prepares the most committed suicide attackers, the fidayeen. This is part of a speech that Nawaz gave last month to eighty fresh recruits of his tanzeem, the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The recruits had completed their training in the three-month-long Daura-e-Khaas commando module.’

‘Nawaz fought briefly in Afghanistan against the USSR army,’ Shekhar continued, ‘and subsequently, with the help of his mentors in the Pakistani Deep State, he has focused on attacking and hurting India with his cadres of fidayeen that he keeps churning out. He, along with LeT’s commander-in-chief Abu-Lakhvi and its head of India operations Al-Cheema, is one of the top terrorists who are wanted in India for their roles in orchestrating terror attacks.

‘Bahawalpur, which is in the Punjab province of Pakistan, is a major recruitment centre for both LeT and the ISI. The literacy rate there is about 35 per cent, which is a shame. Ninety per cent of the land in that district is held by ten-odd families. Most of those who have jobs are employed as daily wagers in fields or state-held factories. Private enterprise is next to nothing. Barely 45 per cent of the people have access to primary healthcare and schools,’ Shekhar explained.

‘Last month, on specific intel provided by the CTC, six LeT suicide attackers were located in downtown Srinagar. Their hideout, in an abandoned two-storey building, was put under siege, and the Lashkar terrorists were asked to surrender, but none of them did. A team from the Rashtriya Rifles division of the Indian Army picked out four of them with precision firing, putting them down like a shooter puts down clay pigeons. Two others died while they were trying to escape. The siege ended after thirty-six long hours.