Talking Terror

Wright and Kumar engaged in an interesting discussion on the stories embedded in terror. What got Kumar into writing the book,which he calls a writer’s report on the war on terror,was a radio interview of Hemant Lakhani. “He was convicted by the US government of being an illegal arms dealer in 2005 and it was the ready assumption of his innocence that interested me,” said Kumar.

Wright was “getting out of journalism and planning to get into movies and become a film director” when 9/11 happened. He then went about with a tape recorder,two legal pads and 4 x 6 index cards,interviewing more than 600 people,even a reticent sister of Osama bin Laden,to write the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. “For me,characters are like donkeys,who can be loaded with information,” said Wright. “I found my character in an FBI agent,who was pushed out of the bureau to become the head of security at the World Trade Centre. And instead of the agent getting bin Laden,bin Laden got him. He turned out to be a great donkey,a great character.”

While Kumar talked about looking for “the human in the inhumanity of 9/11”,Wright spoke about the deep-seated prejudice in the US in having Muslims in intelligence agencies. “What people don’t understand is that these people can penetrate difficult circumstances with their knowledge of Arabic,Pashtun and Urdu,” said Wright. About the hunt for Al Qaeda,Wright added,“It’s been over eight years since 9/11 and they haven’t got bin Laden. The core of Al Qaeda is still intact and the group is much stronger than before. However,their ideology has alienated Muslims all over the world. There won’t be any more 9/11s.”

The event was attended by sociologist Ashis Nandy,to whom Kumar has dedicated the book,and writer Aatish Taseer,among others.

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