12) WHAT DID INDIA ACHIEVE BY HANGING KASAB?
By Gurpreet Singh
The recent hanging in India of Ajmal Amir Kasab, a convicted terrorist of Pakistani origin, has sparked euphoria both in India and Canada. Kasab was executed on Nov. 28 for his involvement in a terrorist attack on Mumbai, India's financial capital on November 26, 2008 that left 166 people dead.
Kasab and other armed extremists came by boat from Pakistan and took the city hostage. While Kasab survived, others died fighting with the police and soldiers. Undoubtedly, it was an attack on India's sovereignty that originated from a hostile neighbour which had been helping anti-India activities on its soil for years.
The trial of Kasab revealed the level of involvement of the Pakistani agencies in the attack. This helped India in isolating Pakistan diplomatically in a post 9/11 environment. Ironically, the US that welcomed the hanging of Kasab had largely ignored past complaints by the Indian government against Pakistan over its support of terrorism. After all, Pakistan is an old US ally, and any complaints coming from a pro-Soviet India from the cold war era were bound to fall on deaf ears.
With India emerging as a nuclear ally of the US, it is not surprising that the US has learned to acknowledge trans-border terrorism in India as a real threat. The 2008 attack quickly came to be known as 26/11 as a 9/11 synonym, whereas Mumbai has witnessed terror attacks more than once, including those before 9/11.
Kasab filed for mercy after receiving his death sentence. However, his mercy petition was rejected by the President of India. His hanging was welcomed by the Hindu nationalist BJP, the major opposition party of the country, and people danced and rejoiced his death in different parts of India.
This may have helped India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh domestically, by raising his profile from being a docile leader to a hawkish politician, but it has saddened the members of civil society whose voices have been virtually muzzled by jingoism.
Manmohan Singh had lost his credibility in the face of massive corruption and his inability to bring economic reforms both nationally and internationally. The western media had portrayed him as a weak leader. The hanging of Kasab coincides with the recent death of ultra Hindu nationalist leader Bal Thackrey who was given a state funeral. If that was not enough, Manmohan Singh, who represents the so-called secular Congress party, had cancelled a dinner meeting with BJP leaders because of Thackrey's death. Thackrey, who considered Hitler as his role model, was known for Pakistan bashing. His supporters recently announced that they won't let the Pakistani cricket team play on Indian soil. It is a separate matter that they did not show up to fight against Kasab and others who invaded Mumbai.
While Thackrey was honoured despite his involvement in anti- Muslim violence in Mumbai, Kasab was hanged for an equivalently grave crime against humanity. Only recently the President of India stayed the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a Sikh extremist convicted for bombing, after receiving a mercy plea from the Chief Minister of Punjab state, Parkash Singh Badal. This was in spite of the fact that Rajoana wanted to be hanged and had refused to file a mercy petition. Clearly, Badal had buckled under pressure from Sikh radicals in Punjab. Likewise, the leaders from Kashmir and Tamil Nadu have also been pleading for the lives of convicted extremists on death row from their regions.
The issue of capital punishment has been totally politicized in India. There is no serious consideration given to abolish such an inhuman system. The hanging of Kasab has actually made him a hero for supporters of the pan-Islamic militant movement. Instead of hanging Kasab, India could have used him to bargain for amnesty for Indian prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails.
Above all, the state should not be allowed to become a killer. The Indian government had scored a victory, by giving him a fair trial, and also bringing forward the real face of Pakistan. It was in a win-win situation. What was the point in hanging Kasab when he could have languished in jail for life?
It's a shame that Rajoana has been spared for political compulsions, whereas Kasab has been killed despite his plea for life. This sends conflicting signals about the impartiality of the legal system and secularism in India. While there is no justification for Pakistan to support terrorism in India, the Indian government should also punish those guilty of anti-Muslim or anti-Sikh pogroms, and those accused of state repression against other minorities. This would help to defeat the designs of terrorist organizations which survive due to lack of political will to address such sensitive issues in a fair and just manner.
(The above article is from the December 1-31, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)