The Mother's Dilemma

This dilemma first sprang upon me sometime around 1990 when the Indian army cracked down on a 'terrorist' (I shall not here enter into a protracted debate over 'Who is a terrorist?') organisation in my home-state Assam (in the northeastern-most part of India, think of Assam tea); later, of course, I realised that it is quite universalisable. Let me, however, carry on using some local details.

A general of the Indian army with a group of elite forces has raided the house of a terrorist who is known to be planning a series of bomb-attacks on the capital of Assam within the next few weeks, a blitz which lead to the deaths of at least hundreds of citizens. However, on entering the terrorist's den, they find that the bird, along with others of the same feather, has flown the nest. But not quite, because his wife and his young son are still sleeping there peacefully. Now the general ties up his wife to one chair and his son to another, and threatens her that unless she reveals to him where her husband is absconding, he shall slowly start chopping off one finger after another from her son's hands. I squirm when I visualise the double-bind that the wife finds herself in : she is in a no-win situation, for she shall lose something either way. As for the general himself, he will forfeit something of his humanity if he actually chops of the boy's fingers, but most probably also his job if he fails to nab the terrorist who will then blow to bits hundreds of people a few days later.