Terrorist Ajmal Kasab Hanged: India Send Out A Strong Message!

Just four days before the 4^th anniversary of the horrific 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack that led to killings of 166 innocent citizens people of the nation woke up this morning to the welcome news of lone captured LeT terrorist Ajmal Kasab hanged to death.  In a secret operation by the Government of India Ajmal Kasab was hanged at 7.20am today in the high security Yerawada Jail in Pune, three hours drive from Mumbai. The dreaded terrorist lodged in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai for nearly three years was shifted to Yerawada jail in the wee hours of the 19^th November, 2012. The government maintained utmost secrecy considering the sensitive nature of the operation and the eager-to-sensationalize private news channels got no whiff about it. Overzealous media coverage of the 3-day long 26/11 Attack nearly compromised the military operation and this time the news channels had no chance of going on a crazy countdown or taking the execution live. The Government of India has thus sent out a strong message across the world that India is not going to tolerate anybody trying to attack its sovereignty or to hamper its growth with dastardly terror activities.

Ajmal Kasab was directly responsible for killing scores of innocent passengers in a railway terminus and three top police officers along with three constables. He killed one more police sub inspector while being captured. His scary image with sophisticated guns captured by CCTV cameras went viral across the traumatized nation.   Relatives of the victims, the survivors and the people at large wanted the murderer of innocents punished immediately.

The opposition political parties too have been assailing the Government for the delay in the execution of the terrorist and the costs incurred thereby. But in the largest democracy of the world there are legal remedies that every accused can take resort to and Ajaml Kasab could not be treated as an exception. A lower session court in Mumbai convicted him and awarded the death sentence in 2010. Resorting to the next option Kasab appealed to Bombay High Court which upheld the verdict in 2011. Then appeal went to the Supreme Court of India which confirmed the sentence in 2012. The final mercy petition to the President still remained open and Kasab sent his petition to the President of India on September 18, 2012 for mercy.

It was thanks to the tremendous resolve of the new President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, that the mercy petition was rejected most immediately on 5^th November whereas at least 12 other mercy petitions including that of the dreaded attacker of Indian Parliament Afzal Guru (in 2001) have been pending since almost a decade. The President’s clearance was sent to the Government of Maharashtra on 8^th November and the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan signed it on the 13^th and accordingly the execution date of 21^st November was decided upon. As per arrangements Kasab was shifted to Yerawada.

The people of India, particularly of Mumbai, have welcomed and rejoiced over the final justice done to the offender of India and humanity. They do not bother too much at the moment about the topic of capital punishment being justified or not, because at the moment they want to see one worst criminal of mankind punished.

The Indian Home Minister has said that Pakistan and relatives of Kasab had been informed in advance about the execution. But Pakistan, as usual, denied about receiving or acknowledging any communication from India in this regard. The Indian authorities also waited for burial request, but since none came the body of Ajmal Kasab was buried in the Yerawada Prison campus.