“Law is for those who believe in the law of the nation. Not for those who don’t believe in law. Such people should be shot as soon as they are met. There should be no involvement in any legal procedure as it results in loss of time and money of nation. I would even say that all such terrorists who have been awarded death penalty must be immediately hanged.”
– Anil Bakshi, senior eminent Advocate, former President of Meerut Bar and former Member of UP Bar Council
How long will India tolerate repeated terror attacks on its soil? How long will our leaders just keep promising strong action against terrorists after every terror attack? How long will our leaders keep allowing terrorists to avail of the benefit of mercy petitions and by dilly dallying any decision on them keep them alive for many decades as we have seen most unfortunately in case of killers of Rajiv Gandhi who even after more than 25 years are still alive and kicking? How long will India keep according red carpet welcome to Pakistani invaders like Gen Musharraf who hails dreaded terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, Hafiz Saeed and others as “Yeh to hamare hero hai ji hero! Yeh to Freedom fighter hai ji! (They are our heroes! They are our freedom fighters)? How long will our leaders keep acknowledging terrorism as the biggest threat to India’s existence as present PM Narendra Modi acknowledged recently and yet not accord mandatory death penalty to them and keep allowing them to avail of mercy petition which has become the biggest joke as it is used as a tool to keep rotting for decades and ultimately terrorist use this as a ruse to convert death penalty into life imprisonment for suffering so much in prison? Disgraceful!
How long will India keep tolerating repeated terror attacks on its soil? How long will Indian politicians keep advocating that repeated terror attacks should not derail the peace process as this is the very objective of terrorists? How long will Indian politicians keep fooling the common man? How long will soldiers keep sacrificing their invaluable lives for a thankless nation like India where politicians and ruling elite are more interested in crawling in front of Pakistani invaders like Gen Pervez Musharraf who take pride in catching India by the throat and threaten India with nuke attacks if India dared to step even one inch inside Pakistani territory as it is only Pakistan which has the exclusive right to invade India?
How long will India keep ignoring that Pakistani army, ISI and their generals like Pervez Musharraf hail terrorists as “Yeh to hero hai ji hero Osama Bin Laden to hero hai, Hafiz Saeed to hero hai, Masood Azhar to hero hai. Hindustan ke liye yeh aatankwadi hain paar hamre liye to yah freedom fighter hain”? How long will India continue according VVIP status to terrorists and declare ceasefire for them, hold talks and dialogue with them and not hang them even decades after Supreme Court which is the highest court in India as happened in case of killers of Rajiv Gandhi, the former PM was killed in 1991 and even in 2021 they are still alive and kicking? How long will India keep extending red carpet welcome to Pakistani invaders like Gen Musharraf who masterminded Kargil war in which we lost hundreds of soldiers as per official figures even though unofficially the figure is very high and that too just about 2 to 3 months after the Kargil war?
How long will India repeatedly crawl in front of Pakistan and they will keep sending trained terrorists to India to spread maximum mayhem and destruction? How long will political parties like BJP who claimed till yesterday that they would not be soft on terror and had declared that ‘Talks and terror cannot go together” keep doing somersault and their top leader like Narendra Modi paradrop to Pakistan knowing fully well that Pakistan will never close its terror operating factories in their soil which are mushrooming openly in different parts and declare Ramzan ka ceasefire which only emboldened them and ultimately it was withdrawn? How long will innocent people and soldiers keep paying with their lives?
I am not at all amused when I saw people distributing sweets on hanging of Kasab. What is there to celebrate? This is just not done! He was hanged after more than 40 crore rupees were spent on him! If this money was spent on poor people, how many of them would have been saved from dying of hunger! We all know. In his case titled Mohammad Ajmal Mohammad Amir Kasab @ Abu Mujahid v State of Maharashtra 2012 ( 3 ) Crimes 211 ( SC) , it was held by the Supreme Court that even after his arrest he regarded himself as a “watan parast”, a patriotic Pakistani at war with this country. Appellant never showed any remorse for the terrible things he did. This forecloses the possibility of any reform or rehabilitation of the appellant. The alternative option of life sentence hence held to be unquestionably excluded in the case of the appellant and death remained the only punishment that could be given to him. This case has the element of waging war against the Government of India and the magnitude of the war is of a degree as in no other case. The conspiracy was to launch a murderous attack on Mumbai regarding it as the financial centre of the country; to kill as many Indians and foreign nationals as possible; to take Indians and foreign nationals as hostages for using them as bargaining chips in regard to the terrorists’ demands; and to try to incite communal strife and insurgency; all with the intent to weaken the country from within.”
Those who demand abolition of capital punishment must know that how much money India had to waste down the lane just to sustain Kasab for a few years! How much more would have been spent on him if he had been jailed for life? We all know! Capital punishment must be abolished for all crimes but not for terrorists!
We all are fully aware of the huge international embarrassment our country had to face when terrorists had captured an aeroplane at gun point in 1999 and how Maulana Masood Azhar who later founded dreaded terror organization Jaish-e-Mohammad which was responsible for not only attacks on Parliament but also many other big terror attacks, and other terrorists had to be released to ensure the safety of those whom terrorists had taken hostage! Still should terrorism be treated as “ordinary crime” and terrorists be treated as “ordinary criminals”? You tell me!
Who attacked Mumbai in 1993 and killed more than 300 people? Rapists? No terrorists. Who attacked and killed our former army chief Gen AS Vaidya? Dacoits. No terrorists. Who attacked Delhi High Court some time back and killed scores of people? Murderers? No terrorists. Who attacked Red Fort in 2005? Murderers or robbers? No terrorists . Who attacked Parliament in 2001 ? Rapists? No terrorists. Who attacked Mumbai on 26/11 in 2008 and massacred more than 200 people? Rapist or corrupt? No terrorists.Arvind Kejriwal recently expressed his concern over rapists, murderers and other criminals being elected as Parliamentarians but what disturbs me most is stubbornness of politicians in always advocating talks with terrorists and not with rapists and other criminals. Why? Just because terrorists are trained in foreign hostile nations like Pakistan! Shameful!
Who killed our former Prime Minister late Mrs Indira Gandhi ? Thieves or thugs? No terrorists. Who killed our former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi? Rapists? No terrorists. Who killed our former Punjab Chief Minister late Beant Singh? Dacoits? No terrorists. Who killed more than 600 Indian soldiers and invaded Kargil? Murderers? No terrorists. Who gets training in various training camps in foreign countries like Pakistan? Rapists or dacoits? No terrorists.
Who attacked Akshardham temple and shot innocent pilgrims including children after asking them to sing national anthem? Murderers? No terrorists. Who enjoys planting bombs in crowded places and killing innocent people? Rapists? No terrorists. Who is invited for talks by leaders of all parties – Congress , BJP and others? Rapists or thugs? No, only and only terrorists. Who enjoys blowing off trains as we saw in July 2006 or aeroplane? Thieves or thugs? No terrorists. Who enjoys hijacking aeroplane as we saw in Kandhar in 1999 ? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists.
Who enjoys placing bombs in malls or cinema halls? Murderers? No terrorists. Who can attack our nuclear installations and destroy our entire nation ? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. In coming time, who can attack Supreme Court? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists. Who threatens to blow off holy shrines like Vaishno Devi, Amarnath, etc? Rapists or dacoits or murderers? No, only and only terrorists. Who plants landmines to kill our soldiers? Murderers or robbers? No, only and only terrorists. For whom is memorial built? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists like late Bhindrawale inside Golden Temple. Who are honoured for killing someone? Thieves or rapists? No, only and only terrorists as the killers of our former Army Chief Gen AS Vaidya were honoured in Golden Temple. For whom do our State Assembly like Tamil Nadu or Punjab pass resolution opposing their hanging after being sentenced so? Rapists like Dhanonjoy? No. Only and only terrorists.
Whose mercy petition keeps hanging for decades? Rapists like Dhanonjoy? No, only and only terrorists like that of killers of late Rajiv Gandhi or the likes of Afzal Guru! Who are released after a VVIP like Rubaiya Sayyid is kidnapped? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists. For whom is ceasefire declared? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. Who severed the head of an Indian soldier and presented it to Gen Musharraf in 2000 who gave one lakh cash prize as reported in several newspapers? Corrupt or rapist? No, a dreaded terrorist named Ilyas Kashmiri. Who will be hailed as “freedom fighters” by Pakistani Army Generals like Musharraf? Rapist or dacoit? No, only and only terrorist!
Who will tie bomb to their body and blow off themselves in crowded places or target a VVIP like late Rajiv Gandhi was targeted? Murderer or robberer? No, only and only a terrorist. Who will be released flouting all norms and out of turn in name of “peace process” and “dialogues”? Thieves or thugs? No, only and only terrorists as we see in Assam with ULFA terror leaders. For whom did Allahabad High Court recently made a scathing remark that after releasing them all out of turn, you will confer Padma Bhushan and other awards on them? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. Who will kidnap MLAs or MPs or Collectors and other big VVIPs to secure release of their men? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists . Who has the guts to declare that, “We will maim , mutilate and cut to pieces the bodies of your soldiers as happened with Captain Saurav Kalia and five soldiers in 1999 and you will invite us for talks like VVIPs as happened after Kargil after declaring ceasefire irrespective of whether it is a NDA or UPA government in power? Rapists or corrupt? No, only and only terrorists.
Who some years back had threatened to kidnap Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid and other senior cricketers? Dacoits or rapists? No, only and only terrorists. Who had occupied Golden Temple in 1984 and compelled Army to launch attack to evict them which obviously wounded Sikh’s feelings and accentuated terrorism to the hilt in Punjab which resulted in loss of lakhs of innocent lives? Corrupt or rapist? No, only and only terrorists!
How many terror acts have taken place in last four decades? Umpteen times which cannot be counted but how many terrorists have been hanged? We can count them on our fingers itself. What about those Tamil terrorists who killed our dynamic and promising former PM late Rajiv Gandhi? They have been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court but even after more than a decade, our government is just not prepared to hang them. Similarly terrorists like those who attacked our Parliament which is the highest pillar of democracy but our government trembles in hanging them and cares a damn about all those brave police cops and other security personnel who sacrificed their own lives to save our MPs from being hijacked and killed. Inspite of being sentenced to death by Supreme Court terrorists are not hanged and their mercy petition keeps pending for decades making a complete mockery of our entire judicial system and of our country as a whole which cannot hang terrorists who openly commit most abominable crimes after getting best training in countries like Pakistan and being armed to the teeth to do the same! Why? Nothing on earth can be more disgraceful! Many top legal luminaries including the former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee very strongly believe that mercy petitions must be decided at the most in few days or few months and not few years or decades as most unfortunately we see right now happening in our country.
How long will Indian soldiers keep paying with their lives and our politicians keep playing politics by blowing hot and blowing cold as it suits them? When in power engage Pakistan, pamper them and go out of way to make them happy. Whether they become happy or not is not certain but one thing is certain that India faces more terror attacks and our soldiers and citizens pay with their lives?
An ordinary criminal like Dhananjay Chatterjee who was accused of raping and killing a minor school girl was hanged on pure circumstantial evidence alone but those who indulge in terror act and kill our former PM Rajiv Gandhi or our former Punjab CM Beant Singh are not hanged even after being convicted by Supreme Court and we instead see Chief Ministers begging for mercy and State Assembly passing resolutions in their favour! How long will this sharing bed with tigers and snakes continue? The dangerous consequences are bound to crop up sooner or later!
How long will Indian soldiers keep dying for a thankless nation and how long will our politicians who make all laws will keep crawling in front of Pakistan and terrorists? How long will Pakistani generals like Musharraf keep paying Rs one lakh for presenting the severed head of an Indian soldiers as he did in 2000 when he did the same by paying Rs 1 lakh to dreaded Al Qaeda terror leader Iliyas Kashmiri and, powerful media houses will keep honouring him from their heart for having accepted the honour of being “state guest” or “VVIP guest” who spared time to speak and lash out at India? How long will Pakistani terrorists keep crossing LoC, keep beheading our soldiers, keep presenting trophy of severed head of Indian soldiers to Pakistani army generals like Pervez Musharraf and our PM will keep ignoring everything and keep visiting Pakistan?
This is just not acceptable under any circumstances but our politicians have been all too happy tolerating all this! It is only in election time that we hear the “third rated” nonsensical dialogues like “talks and terror cannot go together”. I say “third rated” because no politician and no political party is really serious in eliminating terrorism from India. Why Indian politicians take only cosmetic steps and do nothing to either extradite terror leaders like Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salaluddin etc and underworld dons like Dawood who has many houses in Pakistan and enjoys full official patronage nor get them killed as USA did in case of Osama whom they killed in Rawalpindi very close to Army Headquarter? It is because public pressure is not there and this alone explains why Musharraf is given a grand reception in India just two-three months after Kargil war instead of being arrested and tried for war crimes as should have been done ideally and this was pointed by none other than senior Supreme Court lawyer Aman Lekhi! Even attack on Parliament has failed to wake up Indian politicians nor the killing of two former PM and many CM also! Most distressing!
How long will India keep tolerating flags of dreaded terror groups like ISIS and Pakistan on its soil? How long will India allow terrorist symapthizers to indulge in anti-India activity from its own soil? How long will India keep relaxing visas for Pakistani nationals knowing fully well that terrorists exploit it for carrying out terror acts? How long will India keep treating Pakistan as “Most Favoured Nation” which we granted way back in 1989 and which Pakistan has not granted till now to India? How long will we keep tolerating Pakistani agents in India who are more dangerous than ISI agents and who always bat for terrorists rights openly who enjoy massacring innocents in most brutal manner?
How long will India keep discussing terror with Pakistan? How long will politicians keep talking about “zero tolerance” for terrorists and yet keep treating them with kidgloves and keep treating them like VVIPs? How long will politicians of India feel happy just when Pakistani leaders condemn terror attacks on India which they fully know is masterminded by terrorists whom Pakistani army and ISI trains and who are armed to the teeth and terror bosses like Syed Salaluddin, head of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, Maulana Masood Azhar head of Jaish-e-Mohammad which is widely believed to be responsible for the latest terror attack on IAF base in Pathankot in which India lost 5 to 6 soldiers and 5 terrorists also killed and who enjoy VVIP treatment there as they are “heroes for them” like Gen Musharraf hailed them recently?
Needless to state, there can be no two views that tolerating terror attacks is the worst form of crime and is worse than terrorism itself! Why Indians enjoy inviting Pakistani army invaders like Gen Musharraf to its soil who is even being tried in Pakistan for various crimes including killing the Imam of Lal Masjid, former PM Benazir Bhutto etc? Why Indians are impervious to the feelings of the families of the brave soldiers who sacrifice their lives for a thankless nation like India which believes in inviting invaders to its soil and honouring them? Why MPs like Derek O Brien shout in Parliament that if his daughter was similarly raped as happened with Nirbhaya, he would have shot the rapist but have just no compunction in welcoming Pakistani invaders like Gen Musharraf and dining with him, having photo-ops with him and what not? What sort of nationalism is this that our leaders and some top journalists start shouting that, “Pervez, Pervez, Musharraf, Musharraf, We want to honour Gen Pervez Musharraf who so boldly masterminded Kargil war in which we lost thousands of our soldiers and who himself claims to have entered 14-15 kms inside Indian territory to boost the morale of terrorists and Pakistani soldiers to most brutally kill Indian soldiers? Not stopping here, he claims to have caught India’s throat and would have broken India’s neck if the former PM Nawaz Sharif had not rushed to US? He also had threatened to nuke India if Indian soldiers dared to step one step inside Pakistani territory as he feels that only Pakistan has the birthright to invade India and the job of Indian politicians and journalists is to welcome him and invaders like him with an open arm! Such politicians and journalists owe an explanation to the nation!
Terrorists are trained in Pakistan by Pakistani army generals like Musharraf, thousands of terror training camps are operating freely and still our politicians want better relations with Pakistan! What sort of nationalism is this? Pakistan wants to cut our nation to thousand pieces which alone explains why dreaded terror leaders are so openly patronized in Pakistan! But what about our politicians? Why they keep fooling the public by pretending that relations with Pakistan will improve by making trips to Pakistan? Will terror training factories close down? Never can this be possible!
Bluntly put: Why are Pakistani flags allowed to be waved openly in India? Why are those who shout “Pakistan Zindabad” “Meri Jaan Pakistan” not sent to Pakistan? Just like a Pakistani singer Adnan recently acquired Indian citizenship similarly those who wave Pakistani flags must be deported to Pakistan immediately as their heart is in Pakistan! Why should India allow Pakistani agents to wave Pakistani flags in India? What type of tolerance is this? Those whose heart are in Pakistan must immediately shift to Pakistan whether he/she is a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Christian is irrelevant! Those who wish to stay in India have to be loyal to India! There can be no compromise with this but all this is happening and the root cause is our politicians who for their vote bank are prepared to go to any extent! Disgraceful!
Who attacked Mumbai in 1993 and killed more than 300 people? Rapists? No terrorists. Who attacked and killed our former army chief Gen AS Vaidya? Dacoits? No terrorists. Who attacked Delhi High Court some time back and killed scores of people? Murderers. No terrorists. Who attacked Red Fort in 2005? Corrupt person? No terrorists. Who attacked Parliament in 2001? Robbers. No terrorists. Who killed our former Prime Minister late Mrs Indira Gandhi? Thieves or thugs? No terrorists. Who killed our former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi? Rapists? No terrorists. Who killed our former Punjab Chief Minister late Beant Singh? Dacoits? No terrorists and said they were proud of it and yet our Punjab Chief Minister does not want to see him hanged and pleaded his case with the President.
Who killed more than 600 Indian soldiers and invaded Kargil? Murderers? No terrorists. Who gets training in various training camps in foreign countries like Pakistan? Rapists or dacoits? No terrorists. Who attacked Akshardham temple and shot innocent pilgrims including children after asking them to sing national anthem? Murderers? No terrorists. Who enjoys planting bombs in crowded places and killing innocent people? Rapists? No terrorists. Who is invited for talks by leaders of all parties – Congress, BJP and others? Rapists or thugs? No, only and only terrorists.
Who enjoys hijacking aeroplane? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. Who enjoys placing bombs in malls or cinema halls? Murderers? No terrorists. Who can attack our nuclear installations and destroy our entire nation? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. Who attacks or tries to attacks foreign embassies in India or other important places? Murderers or robbers? No, only and only terrorists. In coming time, who can attack Supreme Court? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists. Who threatens to blow off holy shrines like Vaishno Devi, Jama Masjid, Amarnath, etc? Rapists or dacoits or murderers? No only and only terrorists.
Who plants landmines to kill our soldiers? Murderers or robbers? No only and only terrorists. Who attacks air force stations or army base camps? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists. For whom is memorial built? Rapists? No, only and only for terrorists like late Bhindrawale inside Golden Temple and the construction which is going on in lightening pace will be completed by next year as reported in various channels and newspapers. Who are honoured for killing someone? Thieves or rapists? No, only and only terrorists as the family of killers of our former Army Chief Gen AS Vaidya and even those who killed former PM Mrs Indira Gandhi were honoured just recently in Golden Temple and most unfortunately no action was taken against those honouring killers.
For whom do our State Assembly like Tamil Nadu or Punjab pass resolution opposing their hanging after being sentenced so? Rapists like Dhanonjoy? No. Only and only terrorists. Whose mercy petition keeps hanging for decades? Rapists like Dhanonjoy? No, only and only terrorists like that of killers of late Rajiv Gandhi or the likes of Balwant Singh Rajoana! Who are released after a VVIP like Rubaiya Sayyid is kidnapped? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists . For whom is ceasefire declared ? Rapists or dacoits? No, only and only terrorists. Who will pump bullets or plant bombs in temples or mosques or any other religious sites? Rapists? No, only and only terrorists.
Do terrorists deserve mercy? Are terrorists ordinary criminals that they can claim mercy petition as of birthright? Are the human rights of terrorists more important or an ordinary citizen whom they kill indiscriminately? Why do we treat terrorists not as ordinary criminals but as VVIPs? Why our government succumbs in front of their demands but never succumb in front of an ordinary criminal? Why does our government declare ceasefire only for terrorists and not for a rapist, murderer or any other criminal?
It must be asked: Why does our government hold talks with only terrorists and not other criminals? Why our State Assemblies pass resolution only for saving a terrorist from being sent to the gallows and not a rapist or other criminals? Why our government spares no time in hanging rapists like Dhanonjoy Chatterjee who was convicted only on circumstantial evidence and trembles in hanging a terrorist like Balwant Singh Rajoana who after killing former Punjab CM Beant Singh says hang me if you have guts but he is not hanged as the Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal pleads mercy for him even though he never pleads himself and stays completely unrepentant and shouts “Khalistan Zindabad” and other anti-India slogans or Devender Pal Singh Bhullar and many others? Many such troubling questions keep troubling my mind always.
In my college days, I always mistook dacoits for terrorists but my best friend Sageer Khan clarified all my doubts. He said to me way back in 1994 that, “An ordinary criminal like dacoit or rapist or robber or murderer never goes to Pakistan or any other foreign country for getting training on how to commit dacoity or rape or robbery or murder but a terrorist always go and get such training to commit terror acts. Ordinary criminals attack and affect adversely either one or few persons but in case of terrorists things are quite different because terrorists don’t attack just one or few individuals rather they attack and affect adversely our nation as a whole whom they want to destroy completely. A terrorist always declares war against the nation but an ordinary criminal never does so. A terrorist always gets all types of aid from foreign countries but an ordinary criminal gets no such help. An ordinary criminal will never attack national symbols like Parliament, Red Fort, Supreme Court but terrorists always dream of attacking such places and sometimes have been able to partially attack them also and yet our Indian politicians hold talks with them only and pass resolution in their favor and not for ordinary criminals. An enemy soldier during war attack our army soldiers but terrorists are worse than them as they rarely attack men in uniform and always enjoy attacking innocent people especially pilgrims to holy shrines and still many of our leaders plead mercy for them . Do they deserve mercy? No Way. They must be maimed and left to die so that they realize the grave consequences of their dastardly actions. Who can carry out nuclear attack on our country? Rapists for whom our MPs keep demanding death penalty every now and then? No, only and only terrorists with whom our politicians enjoy holding talks and dialogues, declaring ceasefire with them, releasing them out of turn, appointing senior IAS officers and ministers to hold talks with them and extending them all such privileges as are accorded to foreign dignitaries!” How long will our leaders keep fooling our country and keep begging mercy for them and passing resolutions in their favour and in favour of hostile nations like Pakistan who want to destroy India completely?” They must wake up now from their deep slumber and realize how serious the threat of terrorism is for our e/ Our former PM Dr Manmohan Singh had time and again warned of terrorists launching attack on our nuclear installations by which our entire nation can be destroyed. Still should they be allowed to file mercy petition as a birth right? The latest gruesome terror attack at Delhi High Court is nothing and even the bone chilling terror attack at Mumbai on 26 / 11 in 2008 was just a small trailer if terror leaders like Hafiz Sayyid are to be believed and in coming time there will be unleashed millions of such terror attacks again and even our big dams like Tehri are on their hit list which if destroyed would submerge many big cities including Delhi but our MLAs who pass resolutions in their favor are least bothered about all this as they point out their experience in India of “Saab chalta hain” and how terrorists have their sympathizers in every party which alone explains that why repeatedly Centre and States hold talks with them only and not a rapist or a murderer and this includes even the BJP. By showing respect for human rights for terrorists, who has suffered the most? We all know. It was not for nothing that former Supreme Court Judge Justice Arijit Pasayat equated terrorists with animals.
Just recently, when senior counsel KTS Tulsi was pleading for mercy for death row convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar who was sentenced to death by a designated TADA Court on August 25, 2001, for his role in the September 10 , 1993 , bomb blast in Delhi, Justice GS Singhvi told the counsel, “Has anyone examined the psyche of victims of violence? Several security persons died in defending Parliament and these people have been forgotten in a day. In this incident, nine persons were killed and 27 injured; what about their human rights? Every day we keep hearing about our soldiers dying fighting with terrorists . It is difficult to ignore the reasons for delay, but persons who committed the crime think that at a given time, a particular political combination will come (to power) and will give support for commutation (of the sentence) Delay gives a huge hope.’’ The Congress party which has been in power for maximum period in Centre as also those parties who have been in power in Centre must seriously give it a food of thought as these opinions are not of one ordinary individual but of a senior Judge of the Supreme Court.
We have lost many dynamic charismatic leaders including former PMs like late Mrs Indira Gandhi , Rajiv Gandhi and many others in terrorist attacks but what a pity that still we treat terrorist as ordinary criminals and extend the privilege of mercy petition to them .Things have come to such a pass that Pakistani leaders like Rahman Malik are asking for Kasab to be hanged but this “mercy petition privilege” will ensure cent percent that for another decade they are not hanged and kept in jail warmly. For a change, Kasab has been hanged but can we ignore that hanging just one terrorist will not end terrorism!
Those advocating mercy for terrorists dish out various Articles of the Constitution or various Sections of IPC or CrPC to support their headless chicken arguments that even law favours them. Why do they forget that when our Constitution or Criminal Procedure Code or other laws were prepared, there was no terrorism whatsoever in our country and so our Constitution makers had no inkling about it and so they can’t be blamed for not inserting very tough provisions in our legal laws.
It is only in the last four decades or so that terrorism started rearing its ugly face in India with full help from foreign countries who want to destroy us completely and they receive direct aid from such MPs and MLAs who pass resolutions demanding clemency for terrorists or holding talks with terrorists unlike other ordinary criminals with whom they never like to even interact or see their face.
Can anyone deny that in just 15 years from 1994 to 2009 nearly 30, 000 people have been killed in various terror attacks, what to say about security forces who are their prime targets? Still our elected representatives want that no terrorist should ever be hanged and this special privilege of holding talks like VVIPs should also be reserved only for terrorists and not for rapists or dacoits or other criminals. This is what at least I speaking for myself feel is most reprehensible and under no circumstances can ever be justified. Terrorists must have fear of our legal system which can be possible only if adequate deterrent punishment is meted to them at the earliest as soon as they are caught after committing a terror act.
While leaving no stone unturned in distinguishing a terrorist attack from a criminal activity, the Supreme Court in Mohd Khalid v State of West Bengal, 2002 (7) SCC 334 held, ‘‘It may be possible to describe it as use of violence when its most important result is not merely the physical and mental damage of the victim but the prolonged psychological effect it produces or has the potential of producing on the society as a whole. There may be death , injury or destruction of property or even deprivation of individual liberty in the process but the extent and reach of the intended terrorist activity travels beyond the effect of an ordinary crime capable of being punished under the ordinary penal law of the land and its main objective is to overawe the Government or disturb the harmony of the society or ‘terrorise’ people and the society and not only those directly assaulted, with a view to disturb the tempo, peace and tranquility of the society and create a sense of fear and insecurity.’’
It is an unbeatable irony that repeated terror attacks including the latest big one on Pathankot air base what to talk about the one on Delhi High Court have also failed in igniting a stirring debate about abolishing mercy petition for terrorists and setting a time limit within which the case of terrorists must be decided right from the lowest to the highest courts so that the right message percolates down that terror acts won’t go unpunished and terrorists can’t escape the gallows for long and their political connections will carry no weightage but sadly this is not happening so right now!
Rather the pernicious, divisive practice which has been set in motion is that if the terrorist is from Tamil Nadu, the whole Assembly will pass a resolution that their terrorist will not be hanged and this holds true for other states also. The welfare of the people and our national interests must be paramount and not that of terrorists or their elected representatives who support them or the lawyers who argue their case or the countries like Pakistan who train and send them to India to cause maximum mayhem and destruction!
My best friend Sageer Khan also had rightly said that, “What pains me most is that our leaders enjoy releasing terrorists or holding talks with them and according VVIP status to them. Is it correct or proper? I don’t fear ISI. I don’t fear Taliban. I don’t fear US, UK and China who supply deadly weapons to Pakistan.
I only and only fear those Indians who back terrorists in some form or the other.” All this only serves to embolden terror groups further and sends an unmistakable message to all and sundry that, “In India, you can get away even after committing the worst of crimes.’’ Just hanging Kasab or Yakub or Afzal Guru is not enough! This must happen with other terrorists like Balwant Singh Rajoana and killers of Rajiv Gandhi also at the earliest so that a wrong message does not go out that only a few terrorist hailing from a particular community are hanged and the rest are spared inspite of being convicted by top Supreme Court!
However, I would also like to add that to fight and eliminate the scourge of terrorism, all terror acts must be punished with death and nothing less is acceptable under any circumstances as terrorists are a threat to the entire nation and not just few individuals and no one can be above the nation not even human right activists or lawyers or judges or intellectuals or anyone else! Those who attack India after getting training in foreign countries like Pakistan on how best to destroy India have no right to plead for mercy and no leniency of any kind should be shown to them! Their sympathizers must realize that India has kept patience for last more than 40 years but now not any longer as the ex Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and ex President Pranab Mukherjee very rightly pointed out. President Pranab rightly stressed that unless these terrorists are themselves given very grievous wounds, they won’t feel the pain of it and will continue killing innocents at the behest of their foreign handlers who want to bleed India by giving it a thousand cuts! I hope the government is listening! It must listen in national interests and not overlook it as it will harm our national interests the most and make India a laughing stock in front of the world and make it more vulnerable to repeated most brutal terror attacks. Let’s hope so!
Sanjeev Sirohi,