By Anjali Rawat
" हमारे इतिहास में ऐसे कई लोग है,
जिन्हे कोई इनाम, कोई मैडल नहीं मिलता|
हम उनका नाम तक नहीं जानते,
न ही उन्हें पहचानते हैं,
सिर्फ वतन के झंडे पर,
अपनी यादें छोड़ जाते हैं| ".
(Lines from 'Raazi' by Meghna Gulzar)
Sehmat Khan, a name that we are already quite familiar with, was an ordinary college-going girl who had to abandon her dreams, youth, studies, and college life so that she could go on a mission and provide crucial and confidential information to the Indian Agency.
We can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for such a young girl to be on a secret mission, staying away from her country, her parents, and always living with the fear of being caught. Not just Sehmat, but her parents also deserve a big salute, who had enough courage to send their daughter on such a risky mission.
Sehmat's unconditional love for her country has broken all the rules in terms of being a true Patriot. She gave all of herself to her nation. She even had to kill her in-laws in Pakistan and many others during her mission. And for any normal girl, this is definitely not easy. Thus, she was left traumatized, her mind tormented with the guilt of taking away so many innocent lives and even destroying her husband's family.
When I first saw 'Raazi', I was thrilled to watch a girl in the role of a spy on an Indian mission. I could not believe that this was a true story.
Not only did Sehmat play a significant role during the '1971 Indo-Pakistani War' or better known as 'the Liberation War of East-Pakistan (now Bangladesh)', but she also sent her son later to serve Indian Army.
But the sad truth is that we never got to know about her before Bollywood thought of adapting the novel 'Calling Sehmat' as a film.
Sehmat, whose every second of life was solely dedicated to her 'Watan', never had any mention in any history book.
