Good riddance to Faisal Shahzad

Faisal Shahzad is guilty of ruining the lives of his wife and children permanently. They have lost a father, and they have gained a label which will haunt them forever.

Jahanzaib Haque October 05, 2010
Faisal Shahzad, the man who tried to set off a car bomb in New York’s Times Square was sentenced to life in prison, and one can only thank the US Court for putting him behind bars and (hopefully) closing the door on yet another messy chapter in our two countries’ fatally conjoined history.

I don’t care if Shahzad, the self-proclaimed 'Muslim soldier' was a mere pawn in a larger conspiracy and therefore deserves some form of leniency. I also do not buy the argument that a man who travels to Fata to give Hakimullah Mehsud a brotherly hug was a ‘confused soul’ who spiralled down a path of extremism which had less to do with him and more to do with the anti-Muslim global climate and his own sense of alienation in a hostile country. Hogwash.

We are talking about a man who sat in front of his computer using Internet webcam sites to monitor Times Square, trying to calculate where a bomb would be most likely to cause maximum bloodshed. A man who, on the day of his sentencing chooses his moment in the limelight to say, "the war with the Muslims has just begun".

This same individual on his ‘noble mission’ to slaughter civilians is also guilty of ruining the lives of his wife and children permanently. They have lost a father, and they have gained a label which will haunt them forever. While the court does not count this as one of his criminal offences, I do, and for that reason I believe Shahzad deserves a life sentence and then some. Lock the gate, throw away the key, and lets all hope this will be among the last headlines we see regarding this tragedy.
WRITTEN BY:
Jahanzaib Haque The writer is web editor, The Express Tribune jahanzaib.haque@tribune.com.pk
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (41)

Omar bin Abdulaziz | 13 years ago | Reply Writers like Jahanzaib Haque, Anas Abas, Sadaf and Asma are all myopic, to say the least. When will these liberals understand that we are being battered because of our religion and nothing else? Saleem did the same thing in New York what the US drones do in Fata. Have these opinionated writers have anything to write on these attacks as well, or do they believe all that their US master says???
Angelos | 13 years ago | Reply oh come on, we need to look at big picture. Sentencing him to prison is nothing, we need to look at the causes/reasons which lead people to such actions.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ