Heartthrob KASAB!

Whoa, Whatta melodramatic week it was! Firecrackers across the streets of Mumbai and people distributing sweets across many parts of the country, effigies of Kasab burned all across and some people even celebrating the day as the Dussera day symbolically treating the death sentence as the death of last of the 10 heads of Raavan ( some TRP hungry news channel also aired a program comparing this new age Raavan with an upcoming bollywood Maniratnam flick Raavan -- DAMN, nobody can stop them or beat their imagination power ). Government patting its own back by repeatedly reminding the media about this being the fastest trial in the history of Indian Judiciary and they have done a good job since 26/11 as there have not been any major terror attacks since then. Public prosecutor Mr Nikam himself trying to cash in on this tumultuous moment to grab the maximum attention he can by using out of the box literary pearls like Killing Machine, Blood Thirsty Demon, Barbarian Butcher and what not. The human right activists who were jobless for a while also got something to cheer about and a cause again which can give them some media bytes - 'death penalty is unconstitutional; only God can take life', amazing Gandhian philosophy but I still wonder where were these philosophers and their philosophies on and after 26/11, probably they were silent then because everybody was singing the same tune at that time. Some weak hearted people, probably Karan Johar and SRK fans, also felt bad about Kasab breaking down after the sentencing and shedding tears, their point being spare a thought for the young guy who is tolerating all this alone against a 130 crore plus strong nation. Even the police officials were quick to do their maths and they came up with some staggering statistics that over last 15 months they have intercepted and diffused three possible attempts of a bomb attack on and around the cell where Kasab is housed in, I wonder why are these news briefs coming in now and not at the times when these failed attacks actually happened,because anyways such a news item would have garnered as much attention even at those times, probably because of a fear of intelligence breach or may be nothing of this sort ever happened. All in all a state of total confusion where all the cats and dogs have come out of their hideouts to enjoy and claim credit in this supposed moment of celebration.

Now if we talk about the main protagonist of this entire drama, Ajmal Kasab, we can pile up volumes on him. Firstly the dreaded militant brazenly killed hundreds of innocent people, then unfortunately for him got caught alive and then he started the act of toying around with the Indian judicial system, thanks to his alround training that even taught him the ways to handle a possible interrogation. To start off with he refused to have a lawyer as he was well aware that unless the suspect has a lawyer he can't be tried in the court of law, there after buckling under the tremendous pressure and large no. of proofs against him, he accepted his crime, then he went on to take a U turn saying that he is a minor so he can't be tried in the court and should be set free, then he came up with the version that he has never accepted his crime and he was forced to do so by the authorities but the most hilarious counter argument which he presented was, he came to India 10 days prior to 26/11 by the Samjhauta Express to watch Bollywood movies and he was arrested by the police for no offence while he was ambling around in the Juhu Chowpati. GOD! This one was so hilarious that even the judge can't stop his smile when this argument came up. But eventually what happened after several hearings and recording the accounts of scores of eye witnesses was quite expected. The man well and truly deserved the biggest punishment possible in the state of law because certainly those innocent lives can't be brought back but at least the man who was a party in this gruesome crime can definitely be made to experience a part of that pain which those innocent people might have suffered and their innocent families will experience for ever.

But the role of our Government, Judiciary and Police has been quite interesting. Government on one hand is thumping its chest by boasting on a fact that they have been very resolute to finish this case as soon as possible, they have also been claiming that they won't let any other 26/11 type attack happen again on our land and by record so far they have been quite successful in their agenda. But they certainly don't deserve any credit for all this as these things are the bare minimums which are expected out of them, so if you are just meeting expectations you certainly don't deserve golden medallions, you only deserve them when you consistently exceed expectations for that they have to adopt a zero tolerance model which US has adopted post 9/11 and have been amazingly successful in their execution. Same is the scenario with our Judiciary and Police, they are overwhelmed with the fact that they have corroborated truck load of evidence against Kasab and have gone down to an extent of filing pettiest of charges against him like entering the railway platform without a ticket, driving a vehicle without a driving license and other such interesting charges. On the face of it such things definitely seem rosy and praise worthy but what value they hold when there is a high possibility that the accused can go on to live for at least 10 more years thanks to a long queue of 50 similar convicts who are waiting for the same punishment. And if we go by our Judiciary's past track record, that 10 year wait won't be a distant reality which in turn will gift the accused a far more luxurious life in the jail as compared to his dismal life style in Faridkot (his home town). Another shocking decision was the acquittal of other two Indian origin accused who were charged with being the co-conspirators in the 26/11 attacks. Though being a lay man we aren't aware of the nittygritties of their involvement but otherwise too our police and judiciary haven't found any Indian accomplices in this plot. And to believe that this dreaded attack was plotted without an involvement of any local help is impossible. Howsoever advanced technology and armory these militant groups might use, but their being successful or unsuccessful largely depends on the local help they gather and use. So by being blind about the miscreants on our own land and by blaming everything on our neighbors the police and the judiciary is doing no good to the long term treatment of this deadly threat.

There have been quite a few strong voices advocating a life imprisonment for the accused rather than the capital punishment citing reasons like human rights and the fact that a life imprisonment would be a more torturous punishment than a death sentence. But a life imprisonment would mean a jail term of 14 years, by that time the accused would be only 37 years old and can plead for the end of his term and by law if he is granted that, what is the guarantee that he will be a changed man? And will that be justice for all those innocent families who will suffer with this trauma for ever? Certainly NOT! Leave apart the life imprisonment aspect, even if our judiciary goes on to award him the death sentence, the pace at which the things move in our country the picture seems quite bleak. Not only will it make a big hole in the government's pocket which has already spent Rs 35 crore on Kasab's security and still spending Rs 2 Lakh every day but it will also pose threats like bargaining Kasab's release in lieu of some hijacked innocent contingent as it happened in Kandahar few years back. So its imperative and prudent in the interest of our nation that Kasab's execution is done on a fast track otherwise it won't be farce to say that Kasab who has been our media's heartthrob for months now will turn out into a bigger headache for our nation and very soon into a Heart thorn!

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