It takes great courage to become a spy. It takes even greater courage to become a spy in Pakistan. And you have to be something else to be a female married into one of the most powerful military families in Pakistan and spy for your country – India. That is what makes ‘Raazi’ intriguing.
The trailer of the film starring Alia Bhatt in the lead role is receiving plaudits of those who have watched it.
Turns out that the film is based on a real-life spy who, through her actions, helped India avert a critical loss during the Indo-Pak War 1971.
The story of this spy was presented in a fictional narrative by Harinder Sikka in his book ‘Calling Sehmat’. In his book, Sikka details how the lady – a Kashmiri Muslim – married to a Pakistani Army officer supplied India with crucial intelligence inputs on Pakistani military’s actions.
In a report published by The Hindu in 2008, Sikka said that he was inspired to write about the lady during one of his trips to Kargil following the 1999 war to report on the Indian Army’s alleged failures in gathering intelligence.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said that he was so angry at the failures that he even “questioned the patriotism of certain people in the Intelligence Department”. It was then that an Indian Army officer told him of his mother – the lady on whom Sikka wrote the book.
Sikka himself met the woman at Malerkotla in Punjab. During their conversation, Sikka discovered that the information “she passed on from there matched with the Indian intelligence report here”.
The writer, a former Indian Navy officer, said that he was surprised to know that she tutored General Yahya Khan’s grandchildren.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shishir Sharma plays the role of Brigadier Syed, which appears to be based on Yahya Khan.
But her biggest success was when she told the Indian military Pakistan’s plans of sinking INS Viraat.
“Our Government could save its biggest pride on the sea only because of her,” said Sikka.
INS Viraat (now decommissioned) was at the time India’s only aircraft carrier.
So proud was Sikka of the lady’s feat that he said, “Despite being an ex-soldier myself, I feel proud to admit that I learnt the real meaning of patriotism from her story.”
The author had to fictionalise the story and give the lady the name Sehmat to protect the identity of her and her family.
According to Sikka, the lady was the daughter of a rich Kashmiri businessman who himself encouraged his daughter to spy for India in Pakistan.
It took Sikka eight years to write the book. He said that Sehmat is no more and her distinguished son is no longer with the Army.
Watch this trailer and feel proud of Sehmat, which is an Urdu synonym of ‘Raazi’.
Also read – 6 Real Life Stories of Indian Spies That Will Make Every Indian Proud
ADVERTISEMENT
