Wednesday 29 August 2012

Ajmal Kasab: India Wins 2-0... Or does She?


29th August, 2012 will go down as the day the Supreme Court of India sentenced to death, the Pakistani Terrorist, and lone survivor of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Amir Kasab. The cost of keeping this man alive and safe for more than 3 and a half years was about 35 crore rupees. (Yes, count the zeroes if you wish. That's 35,00,00,000). Anyway, the end is near. Death Sentence it is. That'll be a Win for India. In football terminology: India 2-0 approaching stoppage time.


Wait... 2-0?? Where did the second one come from??

Well, the first victory was claimed when we allowed him a trial. High Court, and then to the Supreme Court. Proof that India will not stoop down to barbarianism in times of crisis. The Government, although the Plaintiff, ensured his well being and provided him with a lawyer, health care, newspapers, and the most notoriously publicized Mutton Biryani at his Arthur Road Jail cell, and did so much to the displeasure of the general population who had called for an immediate death sentence.

Morals, dignity, integrity, laws, democracy... The decision to allow him a fair trial, a fair appeal and provisions to exercise every right any defendant is allowed in an Indian Court of Law. THAT was 1-0 to India.
The appeal was upheld at the Supreme Court and he has been sentenced to death by hanging for 'waging war on India'. 2-0.

But, lets not get carried away with the Sentence. Afzal Guru has been waiting for his hanging for some years now. Let Kasab hang first. Then we'll talk. (Ok, that last bit wasn't mine. Read that on twitter.) Makes sense to me. You know how lightning quick Govt. procedures are in India. Pranab da, the call is your's.

Another question I asked myself was: Who did we beat with the 2-0 scoreline?? Kasab? Pakistan? Islam? Terrorism? Jehad? If you answered a 'Yes' to any of these, then I suggest you think again.

Kasab: well, we didn't beat him. We put him through our Judiciary system which, to be fair has had its own share of criticism to deal with. Moral victory, maybe.
Pakistan and its innocent citizens were never the enemy, so... no. The Pakistan internal establishment, yes.
Islam: don't kid yourself. One of my best friends and my neighbor are Muslim. Not the enemy.
Terrorism: No. The element of terror and Jehad as its catalyst are still thriving in the underground extremist networks.

I'm sorry, but apart from the moral victory, I see no positives from the sentence of Ajmal Amir Kasab. 


And also, vengeance for those who lost their loved ones in 26/11. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the sentence. But, Kasab is not the root of the problem. The root lies in the top levels of state funded terror units that brainwash kids like Kasab with a self righteous notion of Jehad and the promise of Allah's rewards, ultimately training them into deadly killing machines. Unless the top level is destabilized and taken down, we will have more 26/11s and Ajmal Kasabs.


This is not a complete victory for India over anyone. But a small step towards the Herculean task of dismantling the Jehadi terror network that still survives in Paksitan as well as India.

Meanwhile, let Kasab hang from the gallows and send a message out to the world: India will strike with dignity. Always.

Jai Hind.

-Pratik Gupta

2 comments:

  1. I like this way more than the preachy stuff :] You are catching on quick :] You should be a pro in no time :)

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  2. Nice one! By the way where did you read that part in twitter? :p

    ReplyDelete