Suicide Mission Accomplished

The many ironies in the speedy hanging of Kasab

You and I want to live, preferably with happiness and prosperity, but even miserable and penniless we still hang on. The jihadist has the opposite consideration. His objective is to die. He is in a sense already dead. To you and I, capital punishment is a lesson in good citizenship. When the state kills someone, it is to say this is what will happen to you if you do what this condemned man did. When the state kills a jihadist, it is to him only the successful culmination of his mission.

Ajmal Kasab came here to die. It would not matter to him if it was by the bullet of a soldier like the others in his group or by a noose after due process. That is why when Indians erupt in glee at Kasab’s hanging they don’t comprehend that it is in fact Kasab who has got closure.

You can still make this argument without saying capital punishment is right or wrong. In a country like India the idea that life is sacrosanct for the state is absurd. From Kashmir to the North East to the Maoists, the state’s hand in the killing of people has never been in question. Even the local trains of Mumbai kill 4,000 people every year and it’s been decades since any government’s conscience batted an eyelid on that. If Indian liberals should now quibble about a judicial killing, then they just don’t get the farce.

What we do need to be clear about is that Kasab’s execution was not a deterrent. No one in his right mind could believe that. For a terrorist  planning another strike against Mumbai, fear of death is the last thing to hold him back. To the vast majority of India, Kasab’s killing was an act of well-deserved revenge. There is nothing wrong in that except what purpose does it serve?

Those who planned the 26/11 attacks are still alive and a foot soldier is, well, just a brainless trigger. One jihadist completed what he came for. And now the government will tie itself up in knots over Afzal Guru and all the others in death row.

In a sense, Kasab was fortunate. Instead of spending decades waiting for death, he got something few other Indians get—speedy justice.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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