KARACHI: A novel titled Risk by German author Steffen Kopetzky was launched in one of the post-lunch sessions at the 7th Karachi Literature Festival on Saturday evening. The launch was conducted by writer and journalist Mohammed Hanif.

Hanif first asked Kopetzky to say a few words about his stay in Karachi. Kopetzky said he had heard about Karachi being a dangerous city, so he discussed his tour with his wife. When he told his wife that he would be able to meet Hanif in Karachi, she said in that case he should visit the city. He said he’d met Hanif four or five times in nine years, but apart from the personal connection it was his novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes that attracted him to the Pakistani author. He said when he set out to write Risk he had no clue to where to begin from. It was, he said, the story of a soldier of imperial Germany, and he didn’t know much about soldiers. It’s when he read Hanif’s novel that he found a clue. Hanif in his novel had shown the world of a solider with elements of intimacy, revenge, etc. Looking at Hanif he said, “You were my inspiration.”

Hanif told the audience that Kopetzky had written seven books and Risk was his latest. He said it hadn’t yet been translated into English but he had read the available excerpts and found it a fascinating read. He said the word jihad was used a lot these days, but Koptezky had written about German jihad in his book, which meant Germany had 100 years of taste for jihad.

Describing that, Kopetzky said Germans were known for their good plans. During World War I they started a plan to beat France and Russia, but they failed because the French had a large theatre of war and the Russians were quicker than the Germans expected, he said. Finally they came up with plans B and C, he said. The plan B, he said, was given by a man who was working in Cairo and was fascinated by the Orient. He said that man became the head of a secret intelligence team and devised a plan one of whose goals was to mobilise the Afghan Army to move away from the British Empire.

Then Hanif requested him to read an excerpt from his book. Kopetzky read out a rather longish piece which consumed quite a bit of time because the session was allotted only an hour. After the reading Hanif asked Kopetzky about the research that had gone into the book. Kopetzky said he had read books in London which led him to look into the papers about the plot to bring down the British Empire. He said he also got to learn about Islam and its history.

Hanif said he had come to know that the book ended in Karachi. Kopetzky said yes, and while the book was largely based on research, in the last two chapters he invented another ending of World War I.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016