Supreme Court confirms death sentence of Kasab...

The Q rankles – Are we not too soft on terrorism ? Should Govt be so elaborate in protecting the interests in the killer or in trying to exhibit to the World that our Judicial process is untarnished even to a killer who plotted and traumatized the Nation ??

Close to 4 years from the ghastly incident and eighteen months after the Mumbai High Court handed out the death sentence to 24-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab for the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai, the Supreme Court today has confirmed the sentence.  The Supreme Court  today upheld the death sentence of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab in the Mumbai terror attacks case. Dismissing Kasab’s plea that he was not given a fair trial in the case, the court said “waging war against the country is the primary and foremost offence committed by Kasab. We are left with no option but to uphold the death sentence of Kasab”.  Kasab and his nine fellow jihadis had attacked CST railway station, Cama Hospital, Vinoli Chaupati junction, Oberoi Hotel, Taj Hotel, Nariman House and Leopold cafe in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 resulting in killing of 166 people and injuring 238 others. A two-judge bench of the apex court pronounced the judgement at 10.30am.

The apex court said the trial court had made repeated attempts o provide him with a lawyer but he had spurned the offer initially and said he did not want to accept Indian lawyers.  Earlier, the Bombay high court had upheld the trial court's verdict to award death sentence to Kasab, the lone surviving gunman who was part of the 10-member fidayeen team that attacked Mumbai.   Kasab was convicted of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation, Section 302 of IPC (murder) and terror related provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The HC had agreed with the trial court that the case against Kasab fell in the rarest of rare category and upheld the decision to award death penalty to the Pakistani.

The Govt has incurred crores of expenditure in keeping Kasab alive and there have been so many curious plea made in the trial.  It is reported that the terror convict had pleaded with the Supreme Court to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who has been appointed amicus curiae to defend Kasab, told a Bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam that he was not part of the larger conspiracy hatched to wage war against India. Stressing Kasab's age, counsel pleaded for a lenient approach as he was drawn into this vortex by exploitation of religious faith and false ideology.  How ridiculous to bring in age criteria for such criminal acts !!!  In his special leave petition challenging the Bombay High Court judgment, Kasab claimed he was brainwashed like a “robot” into committing the heinous crime in the name of “God” and that he did not deserve capital punishment owing to his young age.

Though killing or reprisal or revenge is never the one we cry for – those who do such heinous acts should never be shown any mercy. Every Nation would hold the Country first above everything else and anything done against the Nation must be punished in the strongest manner possible with no leniency at all. 

Recently, in Mumbai there was  an unrelated but another one which brought shame as a symbol which must be respected most was vandalized by a mindless mob in the garb of protesting the happening in Assam.  The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is all set to recover the cost of the damaged Amar Jyoti Jawan, which was destroyed in the mob violence during the Assam protests. The civic body is likely to put up a bill to the tune of Rs 3 lakh towards the reconstruction of the historical memorial. The cost of the damage is to be  included in the panchnama." The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act prevents the civic body from directly liasoning with the organizers of the protest. Recovery of the damages is certainly the first priority of the civic body.  It is not the money but restoration of pride and punishment to the mindless persons who dared to vandalise such a structure.  The August 11 violence has once again brought to the fore the culture of vandalism that the city has witnessed in the past.  The memorial, which was unveiled in 2009, was erected in memory of two Indian soldiers --Sayyed Hussein and Mangal Cadiya -- who were martyred during 1857 mutiny. During the revolt, both the sepoys were blown apart by cannon fire near Azad Maidan after they refused to follow orders from their commanding officer.   It was a heinous act whereby the vandals crores  of people from all faiths and parts of India and those within and outside of armed forces who have served and protected the nation in time of war and in time of peace.

At Azad Maidan, it looked  obvious that the violence was pre planned, something that the Mumbai police too have admitted to and yet could not control. A group of mobs indulged in  molestation, unlawful assembly and caused destruction to National property. The rabid mob also went on to destroy our Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial, shameful act against India’s symbolism, her honor, her dignity and pride. The mock-rifle encased in durable plexiglas and the engraved plaque bore the brunt of stone-pelters and destructive rioters and the rifle was stolen in the melee that erupted.   

Now there is news that the crime branch on Tuesday  have arrested one of the two men who vandalised the Amar Jawan memorial during the mob violence at Azad Maidan on August 11. Police arrested Abdul Qadir Mohammed Ansari, 19, from Sitamadi in Bihar. Joint commissioner of police, crime, Himanshu Roy said Ansari was trying to escape to Nepal when he was arrested. Police had put the two accused on top of their list of people to be arrested for the violence, which left two dead and 63 injured. A local court has remanded Ansari in police custody till September 4. A resident of Jogeshwari (East), the 19-year-old escaped from city after newspapers carried photographs that showed him damaging the memorial. Police traced his location and a crime branch team was flown to Bihar. Police sources said Ansari is unemployed and his father teaches at a madarssa in Jogeshwari.  The women constables who were molested and attacked during the August 11 violence at the city’s Azad Maidan here should be given bravery awards and financial compensation, a fact-finding committee of the National Commission for Women (NCW) recommended to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan here on Tuesday.  The five-member committee, headed by NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma, travelled from Delhi on Tuesday to meet the victims. The commission had taken suo motu note of the incident. During its visit, it went through the CCTV footage of the incident. It met 10 women constables for around 40 minutes for a detailed discussion. The committee recommended that the case be speeded up and the strictest punishment meted out to the perpetrators of the violence.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar