Jubilation as road ends for Qasab

Judge M.L. Tahaliyani imposed the death penalty against Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab on four counts of murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism offenses.
“He should be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” he said. “I don’t find any case for a lesser punishment than death in the case of waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.”
Qasab, 22, dressed in a traditional white tunic, sat with his head in his hands staring at the floor of the dock as the judge passed sentence, three days after his conviction on Monday.
Tahaliyani said the evidence showed “previous, meticulous and systematic planning” of the atrocity, which left 166 people dead and hundreds injured and prompted India to halt peace talks with its arch-rival Pakistan.
“Brutality was writ large,” he added, describing the offenses as “of exceptional depravity”.
In a jampacked courtroom, more than 200 journalists from the national and international media were grasping to hear the judgment. Tahaliyani read out the judgment to Qasab in Hindi and English and asked him if he had anything to say, to which Qasab nodded his head and was soon escorted out of the court to his solitary confinement in the high-security Arthur Road prison.
As soon as the judgment was known, thousands of people gathered outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus (CST), bursting crackers, beating drums, dancing and distributing sweets.
People throughout the country welcomed the verdict as satisfactory and fair.
The special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said: “I am extremely overjoyed at the judgment. My team and I had taken the task of filling the wounds of the victims and wiping their tears. And I have been successful in this task and would like to place my complete satisfaction.
“On this occasion I would like to communicate to the world that terrorism is a black spot on the society. Terrorism does not represent any religion or sect. It is the enemy of the entire humanity. It can best be summoned that the silk worms are much better than the terrorists who spread terrorism,” Nikam added.
 Defense lawyer K.P. Pawar said: “I had tried to defend Qasab sincerely and put all the facts satisfactorily before the court. And it was for the court to give the judgment, which it thought was just and fair. I did my duty to the best of my ability.”
Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil, who was the deputy chief minister and home minister at the time of the terror attacks and had resigned under pressure, said: “The judgment was fair. Fast tracks court should be set up to expedite justice in cases like the Mumbai terror attacks.”
Vinita Salaskar, widow of slain police officer Vijay Salaskar said: “I am happy with the judgment, but still I will be happier and satisfied the day Qasab who mercilessly killed my husband and his colleagues is executed.”
Hundreds of Muslim activists of Raza Academy also joined the celebrations at the CST with posters: “We welcome the court verdict to hang Qasab. Hang him without any delay at Bhendi Bazar.
Abdul Mateen Shaikh, who lost his uncle when Qasab and his accomplice Abu Ismail fired at the CST, said: “I’m happy that justice has been finally done. But I am of the opinion that Qasab should not be given any reprieve and should be hanged at the earliest.”
Mumtaz Begum, whose husband Sadiq was killed in the terror attack, said that Qasab is a merciless killer, and such criminals are not human beings but worst than animals. Islam does not preach terrorism, nor does our supreme religion call upon the Muslims to kill innocent people. Qasab should be put to death at the earliest,” she said.
The question now is when, or even if, India will actually send him to the gallows. India has not carried out an execution since 2004 and has hanged only two people since 1998. The Supreme Court says the punishment is reserved for the “rarest of rare” crimes.
The last available statistics show that 308 people were on death row at the end of 2007, although no breakdown was provided about the status of prisoners in the appeals process.
Those waiting to hear their fate include the killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991, and Mohammad Afzal, a Kashmiri separatist convicted over an attack on India’s Parliament in 2001.
“It’s a lengthy procedure and Qasab cannot be deprived of the right to appeal as per the legal system of the country. This right cannot be taken away from him as per the law. In these circumstances, Qasab will have more time of his life,” said Vijay Kale, a criminal lawyer in Mumbai
Home Minister P. Chidambaram said last year that pleas for clemency to the president would be considered carefully on a case-by-case basis but refused to specify a time-frame for any decision.
Meanwhile, Chidambaram said on Thursday prosecutors would appeal against the acquittal of two Indian suspects. The duo, Fahim Ansari and Shahabuddin Shaikh, was acquitted on Monday by a special Mumbai court trying the case after the judge gave them the “benefit of doubt,” he said.
— with input from agencies