While the media has reported most families of those who died in 26/11 as hailing the execution of Ajmal Kasab, Bollywood actor Ashish Chowdhry refuses to be one of them. His sister Monica and her husband were amongst those who were killed at the Oberoi trident hotel. Given below are screenshots of Chowdhary’s tweets. Read from the last tweet upwards.
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
We all know the ‘solutions to this problem’ but it seems common man will have to ‘live with the problem’. We just can not have a straightforward, rational punishment (which may be a deterrent one sometimes, looking at nature of heinous crime), as we have ‘pseudo intelligentia’ class which will counter those actions or thoughts by raising ‘human rights’ issues. Perhaps Indian population has much more ‘absorptive capacity’ to such terror attacks…
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i don’t know about the guy’s acting skills but he does have brains..have to give him that one..
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Although this is one of the shorter features on Kafila, given the lump in the throat, it takes more time to get through.
RESPECT for Mr Ashish Chowdhry. (It is easier to type these words than if one had to speak to him face to face.)
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Heart touching and so real…
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I may be wrong but I seriously doubt anyone who lost a loved one in Mumbai in 2008 is “celebrating” Kasab’s execution. What is there to celebrate for such people: the execution is not going to bring their loved one back. However, almost all victims of crime want to see the guilty one punished and that process is completed only when the legal process ends. This is what is termed “closure” but that is not correct. All available evidence suggests that mourning the loss of a loved one continues for a long time, probably for the rest of the person’s life.
The idiots who are “celebrating” are your usual suspects. Just one more piece of evidence of their idiocy.
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Suresh, you may want to consider other examples from here and around the world that would disagree with you. And they, and only they, can speak to the truth of what they feel — it is not for you or I to decide that someone elses feelings are “idiocy” or not — they are the one’s that have lost. I disagree with the death penalty but would not dismiss the feelings of those who advocate it for those they have lost. The least you can do is not to dismiss the feelings of those you disagree with. Here is the speech of Matthew Shephard’s father — Matthew was a young man who was brutally, horrifically killed in a hate crime and left on a barbed wire fence to die in the US many years go — as given to the Court when he asked that his son’s killers not be given the death penalty: http://www.wiredstrategies.com/mrshep.htm
I’ll take out one paragraph for you:
“Mr. McKinney, one final comment before I sit, and this is the reason that I stand before you now. At no time since Matt was found at the fence and taken to the hospital have Judy and I made any statements about our beliefs concerning the death penalty. We felt that that would be an undue influence on any prospective juror. Judy has been quoted by some right-wing groups as being against the death penalty. It has been stated that Matt was against the death penalty. Both of these statements are wrong. We have held family discussions and talked about the death penalty. Matt believed that there were incidents and crimes that justified the death penalty. For example, he and I discussed the horrible death of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas. It was his
opinion that the death penalty should be sought and that no expense should be spared to bring those responsible for this murder to justice. Little did we know that the same response would come about involving Matt. I, too, believe in the death penalty. I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy. To use this as the first step in my own closure about losing Matt. Mr. McKinney, I am not doing this because of your family. I am definitely not doing this because of the crass and unwarranted pressures put on by the religious community. If anything, that hardens my resolve to see you die. Mr. McKinney, I’m going to grant you life, as hard as that is for me to do, because of Matthew. You robbed me of something very precious, and I will never forgive you for that … Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.”
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It might help if you read what I wrote carefully.
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Any type of hegemony will have awkward repercussions and collateral damage.
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Respect Mr. Chowdhry, sane voice among those who were thrilled and excited and happy for no reason.
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So wonderful to find that human beings like Ashish Chowdhry too exist–who believe in only one religion–the religion of humanity–wish there were more like him.
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i don’t know why people are happy without any reason on kasab’s death.if a man is hanged humanity is ashamed.
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