1041 Days...
That is exactly the number of days that it took to bring the last perpetrator to book from the day he, along with nine others came onto Colaba in inflatable speedboats and rook over their 'targets' and committed the most daring attack aimed at the business capital of the country in order to gather international attention and to put to practice his ISI-Pak Army training of "kill to the last breath". I have seen a lot of reactions to this act of serving the sentence upon Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab. One can recall the reactions right from 26/11/2008 when the wounds were fresh and a shell shocked country saw things unfolding right in their drawing rooms. Emotions ran high. Heart overpowered head. It was a mob hysteria that at that time stated that he should be hung in full public view for the world to showcase that India is not weak and cannot be played around with, especially by a country which uses terrorism as a state policy. It was a mentality of 'show me the blood' that existed at that time, rightly so. As days passed by, the voices got shriller to hang Kasab. Reason? Details of the way he was being kept in Arthur Road jail, the way he behaved in the courts, and the large amounts that were spent to keep him alive. There were online petitions, Facebook/Twitter/social media posts, making a mockery of the existence of Kasab in the jails. He laughed at the judges, behaved moody while in court rooms during the trial, was provided with biryani, all this at the expense of the exchequer.
Right from day one, from the time he was captured, it was the right things that the Indian state has done. I do not say Union government nor the state government of Maharashtra because it was the Home minister of the same Union government who was so incapable that he had to be shunted out and it was the CM of the state government who gave a 'guided tour' of the horror to a film director. But, as I always believed, and still do, that it is the statute, the constitution that has always stood up and it is because of the constitution of India that India still exists. It has never let me down. Even when people were getting impatient during the days of the seize and wanted him to be shot right then and there, or later when the trial started and so did the tantrums of this person started and people were shocked that he was being served biryani while the families of the victims (including that of high profile IPS officers) were still running from office to office, babu to babu just to get what was due to them, be it jobs or compensation, the decibel levels of people asking for his blood has gone up, I still had faith in the government. Yes it took 665 days for the case to be heard and a judgment pronounced. No lawyer came forward to represent Kasab in courts, to the extent that one of the local bar council has passed a resolution that none of its members would take up this case. Finally, some lawyers came forward after legal luminaries like Fali Nariam and some others and tried to point out that for it to be a fair trial; Kasab should have legal assistance in the form of a lawyer. People have even gone to the extent of attacking the lawyers who came forward to argue 'for' Kasab. Finally the trial started with the voices of 'hang Kasab' playing in the background. As time passed by, those voices again started getting louder as people started getting impatient. But here are the reasons that make me have a sense of immense pride in the constitution of India:
- There is a difference between a law abiding state and a terrorist or a state that sponsors terrorism and it has always been kept intact
- Had Kasab been killed on the spot or right during the course of the attack being unraveled, how could India prove to the world that these were Pakistanis? Everyone knows that these are Pakistanis, but, for it to be fair as per any court of law, there need to be 'proof'. I know it sounds funny when someone asks you to prove something like, say, pain, but, that’s how it works
- Had Kasab not been provided with all the evidence, case, and most importantly a lawyer before pronouncing the death penalty, how different would the Indian state be from those terrorists? At the end of the day, both would have fit the bill when someone wrote 'they killed a group of people irrationally'
- Had all the legal options not been exhausted before executing Kasab, how could the Indian constitution be upheld? After all, we take pride in our constitution. The legal recourse was that the trial court had to pronounce a judgment, then, Kasab should have recourse, and then if it won’t be in his favor in the High Court he should have recourse in the form of a Presidential review. It is only after this door closes should he be executed and that’s precisely what happened
Yes there was a delay, it took 2 years to pronounce the judgment, but, it is a quick one by looking at the backlog of cases in Indian courts. Yes, he was kept as if he was a 'state guest' as many said, but, if he was not treated fairly, then what is the difference between a terrorist outfit which abducts people and the world's largest democracy? At the end, he was executed after all the legal options were exhausted, he was executed as per the jail manuals that are in line with any human rights court, and he was executed while respecting Islamic religious sentiments.
If I have vociferously argued and debated with my friends against the way Saddam Hussein was executed by the US and NATO, if I have argued against Mamur Gaddafi being executed by the rebel troops, in the same breath I say that Kasab was executed as per law and no law was breached, not even a wee bit. There is the most powerful country on the face of the earth which could not or did not have the will to capture its most wanted criminal alive but instead chose to eliminate him and give him a 'at sea burial'. Then, there is India which followed all the laws - personal, human rights and religious laws. This puts India ahead of a lot of countries on the 'ethical and follow the land of the law to the 'T' quotient'.
But, alas! Not many are ready to acknowledge the greatness of this constitution, let alone take pride in it. I saw people distributing sweets, dancing, celebrating today’s event. There were politicians jumping at the first moment asking for the status of Afzal Guru from the parliament attacks. Yes, the government played its game, firstly by advising the President on Kasab's case before Afzal Guru's or the other people whose petitions are piled up on Raisina Hill. Yes, they might have hurried on this as the Parliament is reconvening tomorrow. But, don't forget that this is the land where the Buddha walked and no one has a right to seek another's life. This execution happened because the statute allowed (and still allows) capital punishment. But talking of lynching him or shooting him in public are jingoistic and uncalled for. I would want to end this post by quoting Anna Hazaare, the 'super hero' of the urban middle class and asking a question to the reader if it is correct to say "Kasab should have been hanged publicly"? I certainly feel it is not the right mindset and proves the immaturity of the people who say that.
Remember, the difference between a terrorist and a state is that the terrorist can choose a place, time and mode of carrying out menace, but, the state needs to prove the guilt however evident it is lest it becomes another terrorist state. This execution can utmost get a sense of completion to the kin of the victims, but, it is not something that should lead to joy and celebration.
Satyameva Jayate... Truth Prevails! Long live Indian Constitution.
