India, Sept. 30 -- Pakistan has long carried a reputation for betrayal. But when one of its prime terrorists speaks of being betrayed, the story demands attention. In February 1991, this journalist sat down with Bitta Karate (Farooq Ahmed Dar), the notorious butcher of Kashmiri Pandits, in Kot Bhalwal Jail. Decoding his revelations took time, but what emerged exposed a grim nexus of fanaticism, manipulation, and treachery.

Bitta Karate, a self-confessed fanatic, admitted to killing 20 people, most of them Kashmiri Pandits. When asked hypothetically if he would have killed his own brother or mother, he answered without hesitation: yes. He executed these murders under orders from his 'Area Commander', Ishfaq Majid Wani, who was later kille...