Ajmal Kasab’s death sentence was confirmed by India’s Supreme Court on August 29. Only the government can now intervene to stop his hanging.
Few can deny Kasab deserves extreme punishment for his actions. Should he be killed?
Let us first look at the case for death. The most compelling reason to hang him is that capital punishment is approved of by the Indian state. If the punishment is deserved, and the Supreme Court says it is, then it must be carried out. The second and third reasons are the nature of the crime and the manner in which it was carried out: the execution of dozens of children and adults for no particular reason other than hatred. Then there is the matter of deterrence: that killing the person who did it will discourage others from doing it again, because they will be killed if caught and tried.
This, unless we have missed some minor reasons, is broadly the case for death. Let us look at the case against hanging Kasab. I must reveal here that I do not support the death penalty and do not think it should exist. In India, we want revenge more than justice in such cases. We are all expected to be comfortable with state participation in ritual violence when the non-violent option of jail is available.
However, I accept that laws should be changed in the legislature, and not in newsrooms.
But there are some very specific disadvantages to hanging Kasab. The first is that Kasab might prove useful to the state. He could have information that he hasn’t yet revealed, or could not remember: for instance, something about training and method that might help in preventing or tackling a future attack. Now that his trial is finally over beyond all appeal, Kasab could be cultivated, since he has no further legal hope. A second reason is that he might testify, should a time come, even if this is unlikely, when Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed are tried in India or somewhere outside Pakistan. Unlikely and impossible are different things, and we must remember that. He is the one strong witness on the Lashkar-e-Taiba that India has, and it is in the interest of attacking terrorism in India and Pakistan that he be kept alive.
Then the state must look at the question of deterrence carefully and consider whether killing Kasab deters or encourages potential attackers. I believe that the latter is more likely. The 10 young men who got off that dinghy and began their slaughter in Mumbai did not intend to return to Pakistan. There was no escape planned, and such men are usually undeterred by the thought that they might be killed on their mission. They might even welcome that outcome. Long years in jail in the company of those you have tried to kill seems to me a more effective deterrent.
The president (actually the government) must now decide whether to do the popular thing, which is to hang Kasab or to do, what is in my opinion, the thing that benefits it.
As I said, I have a problem in general with the death penalty, but I think that even the specific arguments against it in this case are substantial.
India should jail, not kill, Ajmal Kasab.
Tailpiece I: Ayaz Amir wrote a few weeks ago that Emperor Akbar walked from Agra to Muinuddin Chishti’s shrine in Ajmer every year. I asked him if he meant Salim Chishti’s shrine (in Fatehpur Sikri) instead. He ran a correction the following week, saying he was mistaken and that it couldn’t have been Ajmer since it was “a whole country away”. Now I’ve learnt that Akbar did in fact walk the 370 km from Agra to Ajmer at least twice. Court poet Faizi said there was nothing wrong with this: “On the chessboard also the king moves on foot.”
My apologies to Amir and his readers.
Tailpiece II: I once referred to Gen MO Mitha’s wife, Indu Chatterjee, as Hindu. Their daughter recently wrote to me saying the Chatterjees were Christian. The column was written years ago and in another Pakistani newspaper, but the daughter feels my mistake could have repercussions for the family. My apologies to her.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2012.
COMMENTS (36)
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@Lala Gee: Do your know why Rajiv Gandhi the then active prime minister of India was assassinated????? It was because he sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force against the LTTE.... Those who assassinated him belonged to the LTTE.....
@Author,
Kasab by all reports is an illiterate and desperately poor Pakistani lured into medieval brainwashing with promise of money and a better (after?)life. What critical information can the low value expendable possibly provide which he already hasn't? I understand your eagerness to seek attention with "sensational" headline. But, problem is that one can't write an intelligent article to justify the headline and it shows. @mods, for once please stop protecting the author of a mediocre if not a frivolous piece and let some criticism through. it isn't fair on author's part to take his audience for a cheap ride just because he can.
@Babloo:
"India needs to demand access to Zakiur-Rehman lakhvi and Sajid Mir. They are the masterminds and planners. The victims of the 26/11 carnage will receive some measure of justice , when its leaders are interrogated and all the facts of the terrorist strike are made public."
What Indian government has done yet to punish the masterminds and planners who are the real culprits behind tens of thousands of deaths and two decades long destruction of Sri Lanka, The whole world knows that "RAW provided training, arms, and funding to LTTE terrorists" (declaring LTTE as terrorist organization later by India is a glaring example of India's duplicitous and deceitful nature) who wrecked havoc in Sri Lanka for two decades. Is the life of 166 Indians more precious than thousands of Sri Lankans? Or, just the Hindus have some divine mandate to inflict whatever barbarities they wish to do to others with impunity and laws and ethics do not apply to them.
@Author: I hope you read the Supreme Court judgement before you wrote this article.
In it, the consenting justices clearly say that India has the capital punishment as its highest form of punishment and that if this case does not meet the standard of being the rarest of the rare, then they don't know what will. . Bottomline: You could not have picked a worse case to to abolish the death penalty in India. . As far as utilizing Kasab as a corroborating witness, four long years have already passed and there has been no headway to nail the perpetrators of this cruel attack. It would be foolish to think that things will change in the near term. On the other hand, Kasab's hanging will bring some sense of justice to the families of the victims.
The problem is that journalists don't like "The End". Closing of an issue is bad for journalism. They want to keep it going forever, but Public safety is more important than their stories. Don't forget that Kasaab is not a lone ranger. There is a very big and powerful organization behind him. Atleast in Pakistan no one can speak against this organization. They can easily hijack a plane, a school bus or make people hostage in a building and demand his release. By keeping him alive, you are putting other innocent people's lives in danger. @ Antanu, I am sorry, you have a very short memory. Did you forget, how Maulana Azhar and his friends were released from Indian Jails?
@Raj Patel: Please can you explain what left to learn about Pakistan?
Kasab should be allowed to meet some of the families who he gunned down at the Railway station including some who were Indian Muslims. He should explain to them why he did this.
Patel's arguments about Kasab revealing more are obnoxious and a gentle way of continuous finger poiting at Paksitan. Our sympathies for the lives lost... but please these sentiments should not be translated into diplomatic leverage for India against Pakistan. 26/11 was a drama planned and executed by Indian agencies themselves ...any serious researchers can find flaws in the script. I am surprised how these lame arguements even get space on our national newspapers.
I am in full agreement with the author - AK should live. In fact, the author should put him up at his own home and treat him as a family member and care for him. The author can then shower him with his love and wash away all that hate.
@author
What would you suggest if some of Kasab's friends (and I think we can all agree that there are plenty more where he came from) hijack an aircraft and demand his release - as had happened about ten years back?
I would really like to know what your choice would be in such a case - were you the decision maker? Would you be willing to see a free Kasab or another plane load of dead innocents?
Since you are advising decision makers on how they should conduct their business, it is only fair that you be put in their shoes, even if hypothetically.
I am also against capital punishment. But for the crime committed by Kasab, some kind of response is necessary as otherwise, the evil nature in people will get even more emboldened to commit more such crime against innocent people. What should be that response?
Kasab was already on a suicide mission, giving him a death sentence now is not going to impact him as he was prepared to die the day he set foot in Mumbai to kill people. Will death penalty bring any kind of remorse in him or will it help him reflect on his actions? He would have if he wanted to as plenty time was available while he was in jail.
It is too tough a situation to deal with and I for myself would want to see him punished in a non-violent way that would make him realize what he did was wrong. I honestly do not have a solution though.
he should be hanged ASAP.
*I think, if Kasab will not hanged it may the great mistake act by the Indian, because if the terrorists kidnapped any Senior citizen of India, belonging to any field may be an official, then at that time India will have to release Kasab with no other option.*
It may be a short-sighted view to get a sense of revenge-satisfaction in Kasab's hanging. He wasn't more than a pawn operating at the behest of the handlers. And those handlers and their supporters deserve the real punishment; and until that happens, it may be better to keep him alive and use as a spectre against those for couple more years.
And given the time the presidential pardon-appeal and associated bureaucratic processes take, it may as well be that he may not be hanged in next 2 years or so.
As usual, the rationale provided in the op-ed is completely meaningless - which is apparently that telling terrorists we intend to spend millions on keeping them hale and hearty once they have been captured alive will work wonderfully well to dampen their enthusiasm; on the contrary, I would imagine that it makes the job all the more enjoyable since they don't even have to pay the ultimate price. The other point is on whether obeying the SC verdict (or not) has an iota of impact on the terrorists - I think not; they are just as likely to plan an attack on India if Kasab is alive as when he is dead - although thye just might take time out to declare him a martyr (the going rate for that term is unbelievably low these days) and for funeral prayers at the highest level. No, I think we should just announce that we are going to release him and let him walk out the front door into the arms of his victim's families. I am sure that anything he seems to have forgotten or is unwilling to disclose will come up in a jiffy.
Either the death penalty must be abolished by the legislature or those on death row should be sent to the gallows. Discretionary powers on who to hang and who not should be dispensed with. Aakar Patel has a great imagination and believes that Kasab may reveal more at a later date, more of a pipe dream. Daood Gilani who is in US custody knows a lot more than a foot soldier like Kasab and has already spilled the beans under a plea bargain, making Patel's arguments infructuous.
"Kasab must live," so that sometime in the future he could be released in a blackmail of the kind we saw during the Kandhahar hijack!
Kasab should not be hanged. Kasab is our trump card. Just like every foreign delegation go to Raj Ghat to pay respects to the Mahatma so should all foreign delegations should be shown Kasab. He should be shown on TV every Independence and republic days just to remind us Indians how wary and alert we have to be.
Civilized nations have abolished the death penalty, no matter what.
@Ch. Allah Daad: I agree, luxury of life imprisonment is for states that are effective; such as Scandinavian ones. Partly efficient states, with corrupt bureaucracy do not deserve that luxury.
I could not agree with your point of view more. I also am opposed to the death penalty. Most recently, the verdict on the Brehvik case in Norway made me see justice systems in a different light. In the US for example, executions are rampant, we have not seen any deterrance of crime due to this. Once killed, he may be seen as a martyr by terrorist groups. This will not at all serve the purpose.
I have also wondered why no one has yet pondered that keeping Kasab alive for information on terrorist organizations is vital.
Thanks for this article.
We should forgive Kasab and send him back to Pakistan. There are a number of things that may happen. The Pakistanis may rejoice and welcome him as a hero. Kasab may admit guilt and apologize for his crimes. The Pakistanis, embarrassed, may arrest Kasab and try him. In each case the whole world will learn a lot what kind of people the Pakistanis and Kasab really are. Kasab was is a mindless tool others pulled the trigger.
Well the popular perception will be too difficult for any government to handle. The entire nation is actually anxious for a closure of some sorts. There is huge cost element in keeping Kasab alive and might be interpreted as being insensitive to the victims of that tragic day. Also, India has an image of a soft state and this further re-in forces the charge. I can't seem to understand to this day that a so-called right-wing government actually negotiated with the hijackers of IC-814 and especially when I contrast it with the Entebbe hijacking.
Why arent the Indian letting the Pakistani Judicail commsion interview the guy. How is Pakistan supposed to gather evidense agaisnt Let alleged role.\ Why the undue haste in hanging him???
Seems making mistakes is a continuing trend in your articles, The General you mentioned was not MO Mitha but rather Major General Abu Bakr Osman Mitha (Hence AO Mitha).
I don't believe in death penalty. There is nothing valuable in a revengeful murder except bowing down to ones tribal instincts. Life imprisonment without parole and thorough brainwashing are the things I would recommend. Also, they should be used for medical trails of new drugs and procedures. And if they die, their organs should be anonymously donated to the needy.
Moreover Kasab was a foot soldier not the mastermind of the attack. It is highly presumptuous to assume that he hasn't revealed all that he knows already. The argument that he might remember new things in future is quite lame.
Personally I am against death penalty as well but on the other hand I see no logic that the state is doling out millions to keep him secure and alive in high security prison. When the crime is waging war against the state death penalty is a necessary evil.
No, Kasaab should be hanged immediately and burried at some unknown location, as American did with OBL. If American's had kept OBL alive, There would have been no other story in news except day to day activities of OBL. Suppose at some point Kasaab escapes from prison and returns to Pakistan. Not only, he will be welcomed as a great hero, he might be engaged to train other terrorists. Trainers with first hand knowledge are always prefered. No prison in world is secured enough to keep terrorists and hard core criminals for too long. There could be a natural disaster or earth quake which could help him escape or terrorists hijack a plane and demand his release. These incidents have happended before and very high profile criminals have escaped or released from prisons. Just ask his last wish and get rid of him.
Kasab must live....so that the world may know the truth...