How Kasab might change Mumbai's take on capital punishment

1 Sep, 2012, 02.22AM IST, Vikram Doctor,ET Bureau At some point in the last century, executions within Bombay itself stopped altogether, with the gallows being moved to Yerawada Jail in Pune. It isn't clear when the actual last execution in the city took place, but the last in Maharashtra was in 1995 when Amrutlal Joshi was executed for murdering three members of the Sadarangani family in Bombay's Khar suburb. That execution was the 100th conducted by Arjun Jadhav, the state's hangman, but nearly all were done in Pune. Kasab will have to be taken there too, unless the authorities decided to build temporary gallows at Arthur Road jail. Joshi's execution was the second last in India (Auto Shankar's execution in Salem is considered to be the second last, but it was on April 27, 1995 and ToI 's report dates Joshi's execution to July12). After that Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in Kolkata in August 2004 and since then, despite the furious promises of politicians and appeals by TV anchors, there have been none. It is called for, of course, after every violent crime, and the sentence is often passed, yet it is not carried out. Kasab will probably change that. The scale of the crime he was involved in was so horrific and public, amounting almost to armoured invasion, that it almost demands a symbolic response and the Supreme Court's verdict reflects this. Cynical calculations also suggest that the General Election of 2014 makes it likely, since elections and executions share a dubious history. Politicians have long used executions as a way to show their toughness - for example, French President Giscard d'Estaing was accused of allowing the last executions in French history, in 1977, to help his dwindling re-election prospects. But will Mumbai really cheer when Kasab hangs? Certainly, many like the politicians, aggressive TV anchors and, more understandably, the families bereaved by 26/11 will. And for all the trends away from capital punishment noted above, it should be remembered that this is also the city which tacitly approved of the era of encounter killings staged by the police. These de facto executions helped bring an end to the worse of gang violence, but it also very probably killed off a few innocents, which is exactly what the long judicial process for capital punishment is meant to avoid. To which many in the city would shrug, and say it is sad, but overall it worked, and there were none of the delays and wildly escalating costs of the Kasab trial. For a city always on the run and in pursuit of wealth, it is this part of the trial that has been the most annoying (along with the security restrictions on the neighbourhood near Arthur Road jail). But there is another uncomfortable result of the delay and that has been Kasab himself. Because while it is very easy to see Kasab-the-Terrorist as the "most hated man" in India, the reactions to Kasab-the-Kid-inthe-Dock are a bit more complex. You can see this in the reactions of the police who have been guarding and dealing with him. While never failing in their strict duty, it has been possible to see a slightly softening in their tone as they describe his evident ignorance and naivety, his often disarmingly simple requests and even childishness, which can be seen in the fact that he is alive at all: while his comrades understood they would probably die, and did, when the moment came Kasab clung to life, which is why this drama is with us at all. None of this should suggest that the police or lawyers have become fond of Kasab, but he is a familiar and understandable type, unlike cold and determined ideologues like Abu Jundal. Unless he's managed the most amazing of acting jobs, Kasab is the simple small town kid who came to a big city and got caught up in things beyond his imagination. He could be the kid whistling in the cinema at the latest Eid blockbuster, or riding on top of trains, or hustling you into buying a dubious cellphone on the street or, for that matter, stealing your own cellphone, or maybe even becoming shooter with a gang, but always something recognisable to Mumbai. And yet he did what he did on 26/11, which is a chilling thought since it suggests how easily people can flip. But if, to modify Hannah Arendt's phrase for Adolf Eichmann, he embodies not the banality, but the sheer ordinariness of evil, it still puts him somewhat short of that completely black bogeyman that all those vengeful voices in the media want to see strung up. Some might even acknowledge that Kasab is what Mahatma Gandhi meant when he explained, in his magazine Harijan, in April, 1940, why he opposed capital punishment: "Under a State governed according to the principles of ahimsa, a murderer would be sent to a penitentiary and there given every chance of reforming himself. All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such." When Kasab walks up those steps, at least some in the city that he attacked will remember what Gandhi said. Source: The Economic Times http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/how-kasab-might-change-mumbais-take-on-capital-punishment/articleshow/16094167.cms?curpg=2 [accessed on 1st September 2012]

How will we kill Kasab? Let’s count the ways

"Death penalty diminishes us. It elevates the spurious notion of an eye for an eye as a desirable form of retribution" By: Salil Tripathi Soon after 26/11, Balasaheb Thackeray wanted him hanging in a public square. Perhaps Azad Maidan would do. Near the jhunka-bhakar stall where you can drink kala khatta and watch schoolboys play cricket. Or, perhaps in the ticket hall of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Its floor was once bloodied, then it was wiped clean of bloodspots. Let there be more blood. How about the Gateway of India? Again, it could be somewhere near the Shivaji statue. Kasab to face the firing squad, looking at the rebuilt Taj. There, we rebuilt what you sought to destroy; there, your accomplices were killed; there, now you go—the rifles can point skyward, brought down at the command, the aim taken, shots fired. How about beheading him in a public square as they do in those countries? And then televise it—the networks would love it. The anchors will have a ring-side view, and they will describe, in graphic detail, as Kasab collapses—only once, not 166 times. See him writhe. Now, does that feel better? Or we could do something else—be like Norway. There, Andres Breivik bombed the city centre and went to an island and killed teenagers. Seventy-seven people died. They tried Breivik. They found him sane. And then they sent him to jail for 21 years. It is unlikely he will ever get freed. Two nations. Two men. Two evil crimes. Two deeds committed without remorse. And two verdicts. Seeking revenge is a deeply personal emotion. The survivors and the families of the victims will naturally have a different perspective of closure. But they know that killing Kasab won’t bring their loved ones back. Some may rejoice at the verdict, some may feel justice is served. Some will cling on to the memories of their loved ones. And a few may think that this verdict, and this punishment—if carried out—responds to a visceral desire among Indians who want to get even, who want to avenge many other crimes, a philosophy sharpened by the wars, the riots, the murders, the explosions, and make Kasab, the one who got caught, the poster boy of all those crimes, and pay for it, many times over. They may not want any part of that. The question is: is India a society or a lynch mob? Disclosure: I am against the death penalty. Not because it is not a deterrent—I don’t like it even if it is, because it is impossible to prove that it deters crimes not committed. Not because it is economically wiser to keep a person in jail, rather than spend on an appeals process which will add cost to the exchequer, because this isn’t about cost-benefit analysis. But because it can get it wrong—advanced forensics in the US have shown that many times the wrong defendant is executed. The Indian Supreme Court has noticed errors, too, as 14 retired judges, including A.P. Shah, the former chief justice of Delhi high court, have pointed out. And also because it can be biased—defendants who are poor, from a minority community, or who are not of sound mind, are more likely to get the death penalty than those who are better-off or from the majority community. (Of course there are exceptions.) And finally, because the death penalty diminishes us. It elevates the spurious notion of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life, as a desirable form of retribution. The death penalty gives the state the right to take the life of an individual, no matter how flawed. Executing a murderer does not bring back any of his victims. The death penalty is driven by a desire for revenge, not justice. In succumbing to such vengeful feelings, we embrace the murderer’s inhumanity, and forget our own humanity. Let the defendant who cannot be redeemed remain in jail, for life. Let him learn— not necessarily skills though that would be nice, but the ideas of remorse, of guilt, of shame, of repentance. Let him figure out how he can atone for what he did. Let us not do to him what he did to others, let us remind him why we are not like him. That is after all our strength, not weakness. Source: http://www.livemint.com/2012/08/30123926/How-will-we-kill-Kasab-Let8.html?h=A1 [accessed on 30th August 2012]

US wanted Kasab's lawyer to build case for his freedom: WikiLeaks

Aman Sharma New Delhi, October 14, 2011 | UPDATED 10:15 IST

Lending a touch of irony, 26/ 11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab has approached the Supreme Court in appeal against his death sentence. But the plea he has made there, has been dismissed by his attorney S. G. Abbas Kazmi two years ago before the trial court pronounced its verdict.

Kasab has pleaded in the apex court that he was "brainwashed like a robot" into committing the dastardly act "in the name of god" and, "given my young age", had a chance to reform.

But a secret American diplomatic cable exposed by WikiLeaks shows that Kazmi had discounted exploring this avenue when the US had mentioned these very arguments to him in the trial court: if he would contact Kasab's parents in Pakistan to build up the case for mitigating circumstances which may help the convict escape the noose.

An official of the US embassy had met Kazmi on September 3, 2009, asking him if India would contact Kasab's parents in Pakistan to know the circumstances under which he was indoctrinated by the Lashkar e-Tayyeba (LeT) and whether he had been brainwashed. But Kazmi had dismissed the possibility of such a move, saying there were no funds to bring Kasab's parents to India and they would not get a visa.

"The death penalty is authorised in India only in rarest of the rare cases, Kazmi said, where there has been extreme brutality or inhuman treatment. The Indian law allows consideration of mitigating factors, such as whether Kasab had been brainwashed, but Kazmi is not planning on calling witnesses to testify on behalf of Kasab to explain the circumstances that led him to be indoctrinated by the LeT," the cable stated.

Kazmi ruled out calling anyone from Pakistan to testify on his behalf in the mitigation phase of the trial. Kazmi said: "I am an Indian citizen. I am not going to contact anyone in Pakistan." Even if he wanted to, there were no funds to bring such a witness to Mumbai, nor was it likely (that) the person would get a visa, he surmised. Further, he noted that no one from Kasab's family had contacted him, the cable added. Kasab's parents, Amir Shahban Kasab and Noor Illah, live in Faridkot village of Okara district. His family has rarely spoken up except when his father confirmed to Pakistani TV channels after 26/ 11 that Kasab was his son.

The US cable stated that even Kasab's defence lawyer was certain that the trial court would award him the death sentence.

"Kazmi said that given the overwhelming evidence against Kasab, he expected Kasab to be convicted and sentenced to death. Kasab's and Kazmi's fatalistic acceptance of the ultimate outcome of the trial appears to be shared by the public at large," the cable added.

Kazmi also complained to the US official that his attempts to provide Kasab with a "robust defence and fair trial" had been hampered from the beginning, the cable stated. "Kazmi is not permitted to confer with his client in private to prepare the defence.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/wikileaks-ajmal-kasab-us-26-11-mumbai-terrorist-attacks/1/154812.html

Accessed 14th October 2011

SC stays Ajmal Kasab’s death verdict

NEW DELHI - Supreme Court has stayed death sentence of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab. The Supreme Court today heard the plea of the Pakistani terrorist challenging his conviction and death sentence in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case. Kasab, the sole convict in the case, has filed the petition through jail authorities in the apex court which had appointed senior advocate Raju Ramachandaran as amicus curie to assist it in deciding the appeal.

On September 2, the apex court had agreed to hear the plea of Maharashtra government against the acquittal of two accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case. It, however, had refused to pass any order on Kasab when the state government pleaded that his letter to the Supreme Court challenging his death sentence should be tagged with this appeal. The Bombay High Court had in its February 21 verdict upheld the trial court order awarding death sentence to Kasab for the "brutal and diabolical" attacks aimed at "destabilising" the government.

Source: http://www.newzfirst.com/web/guest/full-story/-/asset_publisher/Qd8l/content/sc-stays-ajmal-kasab%E2%80%99s-death-verdict?redirect=%2Fweb%2Fguest%2Fhome
accessed on 10th October 2011