Kasab's Crime - and Punishment

Watching news channels incessantly flash Kasab’s most dramatic u-turn reminded me of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s superb “Crime and Punishment”. Not only the words “crime” and “punishment” started playing out in my mind but also the protagonist (sorry, I do not remember the name) who had at first tried to justify his sinful action by believing that murder was permissible in pursuit of a “higher” purpose. However, I could see the clear delineation between the criminal in the novel and the murderer of 26/11 innocents: the former had the moral courage to accept his crime and choose the path to self-redemption, but, here in India, the murderer Ajmal Aamir Kasab had remained shamelessly remorseless. Infact, he had the audacity to proclaim, “I have never seen a AK-47!”

At first I felt acute agony but then I steadied my anguished mental state by deciding not to waste my emotions over a demon who was not human.

But I felt intense anger at the workings of the criminal justice system of our country. The farce of conducting a “fair” trial in the name of a democratic system and the “right” of even an established accused is immensely baffling. India has wasted vast amount of rupees and resources in the apparently never-ending process. And in the end, India gets to hear an unregretful Kasab say, “I had come to Bombay to try my luck in Hindi movies!”

This entire saga is being played out in a Bollywood style. We have a killer captured live on CCTV – and also on numerous television channels - killing scores of people with his AK-47 – yes, the same gun he claims to have never seen! – and watched live all across the globe. And then there are 610 “lucky-to-be-living” witnesses whose accounts the courts took extra pains to record officially. While the entire drama is being played out, the villain is being lodged in especially renovated jails with all possible comforts, enjoying highest possible security cover. The story is advancing well as planned with “expected” twists in the script sprinkled in between. Then comes the climax: the scene is of the courtroom. The prosecutor and the police are presenting their investigative reports; the judge asks the accused for his final words and then the world hears the most extraordinary narration of the times: Killer Kasab’s Krazy Konfessions! Recants actually, technically. (The details are imprinted on Indians psyche thanks to repeated “breaking news” on TV channels and extensive coverage by newspapers.) …

If we grant a fair and free trial rights to even a proven criminal like Kasab (until proven guilty?!) and prolong the process beyond comprehension - making it look more like a time-pass - then it is a sheer mockery of the criminal justice system; and a mockery of the memories of all those innocents murdered mercilessly on that fateful night of 26/11. Aren’t the closed-circuit cameras and the scores of witnesses not proof enough to convict Kasab? Does India fear that international courts may condemn it if it accorded deserved punishment to Kasab for unpardonable crimes? I mean, is there any justification for a “democratic” judiciary procedure in this case?

In my opinion, and I am sure I share it with my fellow Indians, Kasab should be hanged till death in public. Period. His heinous crime deserves nothing less. The message to terrorists of his ilk will be that they cannot – and should not – try to fool around any more. India – and the world – will hand over adequate punishment in proportion to their crime every time they try to disrupt peace and harmony. Terrorists are simply poisonous weeds: the world will uproot them forever. And peace and prosperity will prevail on our earth – come what may!

May Allah come to this nihilist’s rescue by sending him a Sonia, like the protagonist in Crime and Punishment, and set his soul free from all radical ideologies and sins. … Inshallah.