Just four days
before the 4th 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 19th 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 5th 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 8th November
and the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan signed it on the 13th and
accordingly the execution date of 21st 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.
