October 2001
"Ok, all packed mum!" shouted Arif from upstairs. He couldn't believe it. Years of living with his mother and now, reaching the ripe age of 23, he understood the importance of marriage. He was ready to move forward.
"Arif! Hurry or you'll miss the flight" she screamed from the front door. Arif grabbed his passport and flew downstairs to hug his mum. He hadn't done that in years. Arif wondered why when you reach a certain age hugging the woman that endured 9 months of hell for you became 'uncool'.
***
"Arif Hossain! Getting married are we?" joked Raheem, with Monir and Saeed chuckling behind them. They thought they spotted a familiar spiky hairstyle in Birmingham airport!
"Shut up, man. Come lets go!" retorted Arif as the bunch made there way to the terminal. However, the closer they got to the plane the more people began to back away. And because of the several 'random checks' they sort of realized it was because of the religious hat Monir was wearing. They were not random checks. They were checks for suicide bombers and terrorists. They were checks for Al-Qaeda.
***
As they were walking down the barren streets of Karachi, they overheard a speech at the Afghan people's strife and suffering. The crowd were cheering him and breathed every word that came out of the wise looking man. Then, almost simultaneously, all four men thought the same idea.
"We should go to help them, shouldn't we." said Saeed, receiving solemn nods from the rest of the group and totally disregarding Arif's wedding in 3 weeks.
"And we can have the gigantic naans they make as well!" Monir said, lightening the mood a bit.
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Guantanamo: Living Hell
ActionArif, Saeed, Monir and Raheem are four friends who go to Pakistan for Arif's wedding. Just after the devastation of 9/11, the US and the Taliban are at war and the four decide to help the injured in Afghanistan. Little do they know that Guantanamo i...
