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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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On Wednesday, August 29, 2012, India’s Supreme Court upheld the death penalty imposed on 25-year-old Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab convicted under Section 302 of IPC (murder) and terror-related provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The globally condemned Mumbai terror attacks, began on Wednesday, November 26 and lasted until Saturday, November 29, 2008, resulting in166 people killed and at least 308 wounded.

On November 26, 2008, around 20:00, Indian Standard Time (IST), a 10-member team of terrorists from Pakistan came in inflatable speedboats. They came ashore at two locations in Colaba, Mumbai. They split into groups and went off in different directions.

Later, Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of the Pakistan-based militant organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit banned in India, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, among others. He also confessed that they conducted the attacks with the support of Pakistan’s ISI.

During the 60-hour siege of Mumbai, the terrorists orchestrated 11 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai. Eight of the eleven coordinated attacks occurred in South Mumbai – at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, the Oberoi Trident, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Metro Cinema, the Nariman House Jewish community center, and in a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier’s College. The other three attacks – an explosion in Mumbai’s port area, at Mazagaon, and in a taxi at Vile Parle.

The attacks began around 21:30 when two men, Ajmal Kasab and another gunman Khan opened fire, in the passenger hall, using AK-47 rifles. They killed 58 people and injured 104 others. Their assault ended at about 22:45. The two gunmen while fleeing the scene fired at pedestrians and police in the streets. They killed eight police officers.

The attackers then passed a police station. The police officers, short of arms and ammunitions, secured the gates and switched off the lights. They dared not confront the heavily armed terrorists. The two terrorists then headed towards Cama & Albless Hospital. However, the hospital staff locked all patient wards.

After the attackers had left the railway station, a team of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) led by chief Hemant Karkare arrived there. Not finding the terrorists at the railway station, they pursued the attackers.

When the ATS squad’s vehicle entered a lane next to the hospital, Kasab and Khan opened fire. The ATS team returned fire. Chief Hemant Karkare, Encounter Specialist, Vijay Salaskar and Senior Inspector Ashok Kamte succumbed to the bullets of the terrorists. Only Constable Arun Jadhav survived the attack but wounded. He radioed for help.

Kasab and Khan then drove off in the squad’s vehicle. Later, they abandoned it and seized a passenger car and ran into a police roadblock. The ensuing gun battle resulted in Khan’s death, the arrest of a wounded Kasab and the death of a police officer named Tukaram Omble.

By early morning of November 28, Mumbai Police and security forces secured all sites except the Taj hotel.

On November 29, the National Security Guards carried out Operation Black Tornado to flush out the attackers at the Taj hotel. It resulted in the deaths of the last remaining terrorists.

The Indian government insisted that the terrorists came to Mumbai from Pakistan, and their controllers were in Pakistan.

On January 7, 2009, Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s Information Minister, officially accepted Ajmal Kasab’s nationality as Pakistani.

On May 6, 2010, the Mumbai trial court awarded the death penalty to Ajmal Kasab on all the 86 convicted charges.

Kasab appealed against his conviction and the death penalty. He said he deserved leniency for not being part of the larger conspiracy. He also argued that he wanted a fair trial and legal assistance as mandated under the terms of Article 22 (1) of the Indian Constitution. The court appointed senior advocate Raju Ramachandran to argue the case on behalf of Kasab.

On February 21, 2011, the Bombay High Court, and on August 29, 2012, India’s Supreme Court, upheld the death penalty imposed on Ajmal Amir Kasab, and rejected his appeal against the sentence in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The Supreme Court underscored the fact that Kasab and the other nine Pakistanis who executed the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai were part of a “deception, the falsehood that the terrorists were Indian Muslims coming from Hyderabad and were connected with some fictitious organization called Mujaheddin, Hyderabad Deccan … .”

Justice CK Prasad and Justice Aftab Alam observed:

“If the appellant had not been caught alive and the investigating agencies had not been able to unravel the conspiracy fully and in all its devious ways, the terrorists might have passed as Indian Muslims and that would have led to devastating short-term and equally debilitating long-term consequences.

“It would have caused a cleavage of distrust and suspicion between communities and disturbed the communal peace and harmony of the country. It is not impossible that conflagrations would have erupted in different parts of the country, which the governments would have found difficult to contain.

“In this regard, the selection of the CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) as one of the targets for carnage assumes great importance. Trains leave for many parts of the country from the CST. Thus, as news of the carnage spread across the country through the media, travelers would start arriving in different parts of the country, some having lost their near and dear ones at CST, some with a wounded companion and others shell-shocked by the experience of a terrorist attack on the railway station. Their first-hand, eyewitness accounts of the carnage, added to reports in the print media and visuals in the electronic media, could be highly inflammatory and could easily evoke communal violence that would be difficult to contain.

“The deception was ominous because it aimed at destabilising Indian society and its governments. But it was equally distressing for being so deeply untruthful. Indian Muslims may have a long list of grievances against the establishment. Some of the grievances may be fanciful, some may be of their own making and some may be substantive. Nevertheless, no Indian Muslim would even think of venting his grievance like an animal, killing, maiming and wounding innocent people, his own countrymen. This is because he is not only loyal to his faith and community but equally loves his country and fellow countrymen.”

Majority of Indians, barring a few Islamists, want Ajmal Kasab, the ruthless Pakistani killer to die; however, they know that this will never happen on Indian soil as long as sycophant politicians, of all hues, who while welcoming the judgement of India’s Supreme Court, have their own agenda.

The other major deterrent to Kasab’s execution would be Amnesty International. Their web page, “RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS“, says,

“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.

The death penalty is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state.

It is carried out in the name of the nation’s entire population, and affects everyone. Everyone should be aware of what the death penalty is, how it is used, how it affects them and how it violates fundamental rights.”

Like any other Indian who loves his country, I cannot fully agree with the Amnesty International in the case of Ajmal Amir Kasab.

How about you?

Related articles

• Indian judges confirm death for Kasab – Pakistan Daily Times (dailytimes.com.pk)
• In The NEWS : Ajmal Amir Kajab (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
• RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS (amnesty.org)
• SC confirms death penalty for Kasab (datadiary2012.wordpress.com)
• SC upholds death penalty for 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab – Bloomberg UTV (yourmoneysite.com)
• Death Penalty (starscrutiny.wordpress.com)
• No one should be executed. Not even Ajmal Kasab (amnestyindia.tumblr.com)