A Tale of two verdicts
It is a quirk of fate or a sign from the
celestial that India saw two
judgements pronounced on the same day, supreme court giving the verdict on the
Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and the Gujarat
courts giving a verdict on Dr Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi. Both courts found
the accused guilty and deserving the maximum punishment there are many
similarities and differences between both actions.
Both crimes were committed in the name of
religion, but both crimes could never be considered as religious acts, by even
the wildest stretch of imagination. Both of them represented their masters, who
conspired to get their foot soldiers to kill indiscriminately and brutally
persons of a particular religion who were defenceless and innocent bystanders.
While Kasab claimed that the crimes committed in Gujarat gave him enough reason
to do what he did, the Gujarat accused claim that act of burning Kar sewaks in
Godhra prompted them to do what they did. Fundamentalist attitudes feed on each
other and unscrupulous elements in the name of religion indoctrinate vulnerable
gullible persons to commit such heinous crimes.
While Kasab used modern weapons
to indiscriminately gun down any person who came in front of him, the
lady doctor and her pack of goons hounded and hunted down innocent persons who
were Muslims with crude medieval weapons and liberal use of petrol as a
retribution and revenge for acts committed by their co-religionists. While
Kasab is a poor uneducated, foot soldier, vulnerable to get influenced by
persons who spread hatred and venom in name of religion, Dr Maya is a gynecologist, educated professional
trained in helping create and propagate life. While both were backed by persons
in power Kasab was from foreign land acting against persons who his country
considered as enemy, Dr Maya and Babu Bajrangi acted against their own
countrymen and while not actually using a weapon of mass destruction,
distributed and directly exhorted frenzied mobs to commit violent acts defying
all civilized norms. Kasab probably knew that he would be caught or killed and
was prepared for both eventualities, he is showing no remorse for his acts. Dr.
Maya and Bajrangi were almost sure that they would never get caught and had it
not been for the Herculean efforts of the human right activists and
unprecedented actions of the Supreme Court reopening cases which the state had
closed to protect its favored few, both of them would have been enjoying power
and rewards from their political masters.
We are all very ready to hang Kasab, but
our muted reaction to the other verdict betrays a mind set ready to condone
brutal acts against persons considered as them as opposed to us.
In my view capital punishment is wrong and
no civilized society can have it on its statute books, state complicity in acts
of violence against its own people cannot be forgiven. In the history of modern
India
In conclusion I leave it to your judgment
to decide your reaction to these acts and judgments. Those who forget history
are condemned to repeat it. However Kasab and Kodnani are two sides of the same
coin and their masters fall in same category too.
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