Key Points

‘Salakaar’ is a period spy drama-thriller, and alternates between two timelines, the 1970s and 2025. It follows the story of an Indian spy, who is tailing the nuclear weapon development in India’s arch-nemesis, Pakistan. Mukesh Rishi essays the role of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the Pakistani dictator, who escalated his country’s atomic bomb project.

Faruk spoke with IANS during the promotions of the series when he was asked about a visual from the series in which Zia’s character can be seen addressing the public from his vintage Mercedes. The visual has a striking resemblance to the Hitler’s video in which he can be seen seated in his Mercedes as the Nazi convoy moves behind him.

Talking about the same, Faruk told IANS, “Yes, all dictators whether it's Hitler, Mussolini or Zia, all of them have a highly narcissistic trait. It has been common among all dictators over the centuries. Yes, Hitler is a reference point for Zia because his actions were similar”.

Zia-ul-Haq is the bedrock of most of India’s problems. He was the second Pakistani dictator after General Ayub Khan. He gave a definitive form to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s plan of “Bleed India by thousand cuts”, a thousand year war declared against India for Pakistan’s own interest.

Later, Zia got Zulfikar Ali Bhutto framed in a case, and got the death penalty approved for him through hand-picked judges.

His political actions are largely responsible for the current day geo-political tensions in southeast Asia. He instituted industrialization and deregulation, which significantly improved Pakistan's economy. In 1979, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Zia adopted an anti-Soviet stance and aided the Afghan mujahideen. He bolstered ties with China and the United States.

- IANS