Satire Saturdays: A Case of Exploding Mangoes

“Any man who has the ability to read a newspaper cannot have the will to throw himself between you and your assassin’s bullet.”

— Brigadier TM to Zia, Chapter 4, A Case of Exploding Mangoes

I don’t know how you would define a common man in Zia ul Haq’s Pakistan during the 1980s, but a serving PAF officer Mohammed Hanif seems not on the same page as his ruler would have wished. Cynical through its entire length, “A Case of Exploding Mangoes” is a blunt commentary on the state of affairs in the Islamic republic and also an attempt to show how the General, the top brass, the military establishment rather the entire establishment as a whole carried its daily affairs.

The memoir starts with the introduction of Junior Under Officer Ali Shigri who is the son of Late Colonel Quli Shigri, a decorated and well respected ISI (Islamic KGB) operative remembered for his work with the Mujahideen (holy warrior) in the Soviet-Afghanistan war. And we find Shigri in trouble because his roommate and buddy Cadet Obaid has not only disappeared but disappeared along with a trainer aircraft. This results in him being handed over to the ISI, and the story parallelly covers General Zia’s daily life and his distrust of the security apparatus protecting him. But Hanif is simply not telling a story about life in the army. He touches upon the lives of common people who were oppressed because they were political or religious minorities.

Like a communist sweeper union leader, who was imprisoned by the ISI for his alleged attempt to kill the president with a bomb blast and was kept in illegal confinement.

Or the killing of a Christian ISI operative just because he was Christian.

The theocratic turn in which the entire Pakistani government was moving is also shown with a blind woman being sentenced to death by stoning — on charges of committing adultery despite the fact that she had not committed the crime but was rather raped by five men. And how the jurisprudence entirely put in the hands of the Islamic fundamentalists upholds this sentencing.

It does not stop here. The problem of narcotics in Pakistan like consuming venomous organisms as intoxicants; inherent cast, racial, and language confrontations are also duly addressed.

This description might make you feel that circumstances were very bleak during that time which was really the scenario. Yet the presentation of the book compels you to laugh at times when you don’t want to and compels you to think about your sanity, moral compass, and your idea of what is politically correct. The message is clear: what is tragic is also absurd.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes addresses a very important point. The struggle of a dictatorship for its survival, the struggle for survival of the ruling class. The pressure on those who are part of the system to stay important and not fall out of favour. The pressure on the dictator to stay in power, to stay in control, and be informed all the time.

The novel humanizes almost everyone and points out the fact that it is not the fault of a single person. The entire humanity is at fault because it is oppressing itself through its policies and politics.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a must-read for anyone who is interested in knowing about the rule of General Zia and is “history phobic.” And yes, for those who do enjoy what the mango season has to offer.

This story is part of “Satire Saturdays!”, a new series by BeetleBox on the greatest, funniest, out of this world satire of this world.

Author: Aman Mukherjee

Editor and Illustrator: Yatharth Bhasin

Design Resources: Flaticon