Make him jump

“Make him jump” is a phrase of intimidation that shifts from Ayooba’s personal boast to the declared purpose of a military operation against Sheikh Mujib. Its repetition links a small episode of failed bravado to a decisive political action, while Saleem’s later account reveals that he helped locate Mujib by scent.

From boast to refrain

Ayooba first uses the phrase while taunting Farooq and Shaheed. He promises that he will make Saleem jump, but the boast does not succeed: the narrator later says that Ayooba failed to startle him. The phrase therefore begins as an attempt to assert power that produces no result.

That failure becomes the setup for the expression’s return. The narration contrasts Ayooba’s unsuccessful effort with the power of those who can make Mujib jump, transforming the phrase from an individual challenge into a political threat.

The operation against Mujib

On March 25, Yahya and Bhutto abruptly ended their talks with Mujib and returned to the West Wing. That night, Brigadier Iskandar arrived at the CUTIA barracks with Najmuddin and Lala Moin, who carried sixty-one uniforms and nineteen dog-collars. Najmuddin ordered the group into action, and passengers who had flown as civilians put on uniforms and took up arms.

Brigadier Iskandar then disclosed the purpose of the mission: to make Mujib jump. At midnight, sixty thousand troops left their barracks, while the men of Saleem’s group were personally selected to accompany Iskandar. In this context, the phrase is no longer an empty boast; it names the intended action behind a coordinated military operation.

Saleem’s role and the phrase’s significance

Saleem tells Padma that he was the one who sniffed out Mujib when Mujib was arrested. The group had been given one of Mujib’s old shirts, and Saleem explains that this made the task easy for him. His account places his unusual sense of smell inside the operation and makes him a participant in the event the repeated phrase anticipates.

The phrase’s changing scale supplies its force: first it is Ayooba’s unsuccessful threat, then a contrast between individual weakness and political power, and finally the declared aim of the mission. Its recurrence ties the squad’s episode to the larger turn from talks to military action, while Saleem’s brief disclosure reveals what he himself did during Mujib’s arrest.