A young Kashmiri militant whom Naga interviews when he goes to rescue Tilo from the interrogation center. Ashfaq Mir, a commandant in the Indian Army, has told Naga that Aijaz has been “neutralized” and is in custody voluntarily to protect himself from his revolutionary friends and family. But Aijaz corrects the story when he is left alone with Naga: being in police custody couldn’t be farther from his wishes. Indeed, far from neutralized, he longs more than anything to kill the “murderers of [his] people.”
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Aijaz Character Timeline in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
The timeline below shows where the character Aijaz appears in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...you?” he asks Naga. The militant arrives; he is a young, very thin boy named Aijaz, and several of his limbs are broken. Ceremoniously, Ashfaq Mir explains to Naga and Tilo...
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...that Ashfaq Mir is offering a sort of Kashmiri deal, essentially exchanging an interview with Aijaz for Naga’s journalistic silence over whatever happened to Tilo the night before. Before leaving the...
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Aijaz knows who Naga is—the names of many left-wing Indian journalists circulate among members of the...
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Ashfaq Mir soon reenters the room, asking Naga to reconfirm any facts from Aijaz before publication of the article. “He’s a terrorist, after all,” the Commandant says, “My terrorist...
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Chapter 9
...the cheerful Ashfaq Mir. Half an hour later—after Ashfaq has offered them food, brought them Aijaz to interrogate, performed an overly ceremonious handover—Naga brings Tilo to the hotel where he is...
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