A large number of people have been asking me on Twitter over the last few days why I had signed a petition asking for Ajmal Kasab to be granted mercy and spared capital punishment. Kasab was hanged 21 November, why have all these people woken up to that petition now? That’s thanks to a belated but concerted online campaign initiated by the Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga-led Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BKSS), a rag-tag vigilante organisation which goes around threatening and committing violence against people it has political disagreements with.
The BKSS has put out the list of 203 signatories as a sort of ‘expose’ but if they could get the list of signatories I am sure they got the text of the petition, too. The petition was initiated by lawyer Yug Mohit Chaudhry in the last week of October and probably put out in the first week of November. Here is what the full text of the petition said:
Respected Rashtrapatiji,
We, the undersigned Indian citizens, urge the Government of India to grant mercy to Md. Ajmal Kasab and commute his death sentence to one of imprisonment for the rest of his natural life. We believe that it is wrong and immoral to kill a human being by way of revenge or punishment. Executing Kasab in the name of the Indian people will only feed a base blood lust that will make our society more blood-thirsty, vengeful and violent. It will not contribute to our safety or well-being in any way. On the other hand, keeping Kasab in jail for the rest of his life and treating him like a human being allows for the possibility of him regaining his humanity, repenting his crime and atoning for the harm he has caused. That would indeed be a big victory in our battle against terrorism. We believe that all of us – the best and the worst – are in need of mercy, and it is only by showing mercy that, morally, we ourselves become entitled to receiving it. Bereft of mercy, our society becomes impoverished and inhuman. If we have to become a more humane and compassionate society, and leave a better, and less blood-thirsty world behind for our children, we have to curb our instinct for bloody retribution and abandon the practice of killing those who have hurt us. In the land of Buddha, Mahavira and Gandhiji, let it not be said that there is no place left in our hearts for mercy or that the national conscience can only be satisfied by the killing of Kasab.
The text of the petition was made available here, with names of some of the initial signatories. Someone plagiarised the text and added some more lines to it and posted it on Change.org,where it got another hundred odd signatures.
When people started asking me on Twitter why I had signed the petition, I gave them links to two articles I had written arguing against death penalty for Ajmal Kasab, basically coming from a position of being against death penalty, no matter how heinous the crime. One article was in September and another was published on the day of the hanging, in November.
So when people asked me why I had signed the petition and I gave them these links, they continued to ask me why I had signed the petition! Some engaged with my reasons but only some. I figured they don’t really want to know, they only want to portray me and the 202 others as people who loved Ajmal Kasab, who don’t want justice for 26/11 victims, and ‘traitor’ was the politest of the many words they used.
But if there are people who really want to engage in a constructive debate, they may also want to see this post by Yug Mohit Chaudhry and this release by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties. The Hindu newspaper opposed the execution, pointing out that the paper has long opposed death penalty. For all the claims due legal process, Kasab was denied his right to judicial review of the President’s rejection of his mercy petition. V Venkatesan has pointed out that the President should have disclosed the reasons for rejecting the mercy petition. Yug Mohit Chaudhry has faulted Kasab’s execution by showing how his case was treated differently from that of other death row convicts. Many human rights groups across India condemned Kasab’s hanging and asked for death penalty to be abolished. Former Supreme Court judge VR Krishna Iyer, who heads the Peoples’ Movement against Death Penalty, wrote an excellent piece outlining his reasons.
Many have asked me if I would have opposed death penalty for Kasab if a loved one of mine had been killed in the 26/11 attacks. Yes, I would still have opposed death penalty, as does actor Ashish Chowdhary, who lost his sister and brother-in-law at the Oberoi Trident hotel.
My Twitter bio says, “Will do anything for a good biryani”. Many of the trolls sent over by the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena asked me if a biryani was what it took to me me sign the petition. No, I don’t even need a biryani for that. This biryani obsession of Hindutva-Taliban trolls is part of their agenda to police the dietary habits of Hindus according to their wishes. I police them back by blocking them. Hilariously, some put two and two together: since Ajmal Kasab was served biryani in jail at the tax-payer’s expense, and I love biryani, hence… The truth is that Ajmal Kasab was never served biryani in jail. But when did the atheist Veer Savarkar’s followers let the truth come in the way of their anti-Hindu agendas?
Verily, that which is Dharma is truth, Therefore they say of a man who speaks truth, “He speaks the Dharma,”
or of a man who speaks the Dharma, “He speaks the Truth.”, Verily, both these things are the same.—(Brh. Upanishad, 1.4.14)
The tweets used to start a hate-campaign against the 203 signatories pointed out, as though a great discovery had been made, that many of these signatories were known to be anti-Modi. Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga pointed out that in a TV show I had said that he should be arrested for spreading false rumours about non-existent fatwas on Facebook. I stand by my comment, but these points are some indication why this hate-campaign has been initiated against the signatories two months after Kasab was hanged. It’s not about Kasab – if it was, Bagga would also have put out the text of the petition so people could see our reasons. But you can not expect honesty from the Hindutva-Taliban.
But if there were those who were genuinely curious, I hope this post has been of use to them.
The article I wrote in September 2012 saying Kasab should not be hanged, was on the occassion of the Naroda Patiya judgement. The Naroda Patiya massacre in Gujarat in 2002 was an equally horrific case of mass murder, but the judge cited her opposition to death penalty as the reason why she wasn’t awarding that punishment to Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajarangi. So I asked the Hindutva-Talibanis why they weren’t demanding death penalty for Kodnani and Bajarangi? They replied innocently, let the court award it. That is not the point. The High Court might yet do that. And I will oppose it. My point is this: The Hindutva Taliban constantly accuses left-liberals-secularists etcetera of selective outrage, of bias, of political and intellectual dishonesty. They wanted Kasab hanged because he killed people. They wanted him hanged here and now,in public, without due process, without ‘wasting tax-payer’s money’. So why are they not similarly outraging over another set of mass murderers – whose crime wasworse than Kasab’s because they were not even from the ‘enemy’ nation. They were our own!
It is clear to those who want to see: Untruth is the weapon of choice in the adharmic war of the Hindutva-Taliban.
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
As someone who loves biriyani, albeit only of the veg variety (be it in Bangalore or in Bombay’s Irani restos or in Hyderabad), and opposed to the death penalty in ALL cases, I enjoyed reading this to the extent that one can enjoy reading about the aftermath of gang rapes and premeditated killings as well as about people who sport Sikh sounding names and who misuse the name of one of the greatest of Indian revolutionaries and post drivel.
Facebook takes arbitrary action against so many human rights activists for such silly reasons as not using their real names — Michael Anti being the most famous example. Although I oppose bans and prohibitions and stuff, I find it a travesty that the BKSS has not been seen through by Facebook admins.
Let that charade continue by all means, but please Facebook, why this kolaveri di against human rights types?
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While it’s a noble gesture to petition the President to show mercy toward any death row convict, one should also understand the public mood in this specific case. We cannot forgive all crimes. We aren’t there yet! Your right to petition should be respected. At the same time, the general opinion in India in the case of Ajmal Kasab was in favor of death sentence to be carried out.
It takes a while for India to abolish death penalty. However, one of your readable articles.
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Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheik was imprisoned in India in connection with 1994 tourist kidnapping, subsequently released in exchange for IC 814 hostages and ultimately arrested on kidnapping and killing Daniel Pearl.
Perhaps, keeping Kasab in jail might have led to a situation similar with the Indian government put in a similar position of negotiating his release….?
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“My point is this: The Hindutva Taliban constantly accuses left-liberals-secularists etcetera of selective outrage, of bias, of political and intellectual dishonesty. ”
You are both quite right. Both the Hindutva rightists and the left-liberal-secularists have selective outrage and display intellectual dishonesty.
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@Bimal Parekh,
There is some truth in the observation that Hindutva righitists (some of them) show only selective outrage. But they also raise genuine questions about vote-bank politics and pseudo-secularism as practiced in India. The issue with left-liberal-secularists is they can’t face truth! They serve parties which thrive on vote banks.
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Thats a brave write up Shivam Vij
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To be frank, i was one of those so called trolls who was trying to have a meaning full discussion and somehow you seemed to have had too many on your back. If you are reading this some points
A. This biryani obsession of Hindutva-Taliban trolls is part of their agenda to police the dietary habits of Hindus according to their wishes: This is bias and an easy way for you guys to label guys who label you guys!!!
B. Dude come on the Biryani part was in your Bio and was damn funny, who wouldn’t have taken pot shots.
C. Now about opposing death penalty. Do you seriously believe that by banning it will change anything. It wont. Why, because people will kill people for various reasons and will keep happening and this crime that we are talking about is heinous. They didn’t die quietly man and ain’t very pleasant.
I have started reading all the articles that you have mentioned here and will blog about it. Thanks again.
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Dear Srikanth,
For all of your last part where you got time to be a little bit serious. I have a question for you. Is awarding the death penalty reducing the rate of crimes of any particular nature (Murder, Multiple Murders, Terrorism, Rapes et al). I don’t have, and I believe you too do not have any ‘facts’ to support that. Therefore, that punishment as a deterrent is redundant philosophy. All it serves is to feed the rare, gourmet and perverted pleasure of under-achievers’ pool of the 1.25 Billion.
Now, let’s move to the point of Justice. As someone named Vasu mentioned above, “general opinion in India in the case of Ajmal Kasab was in favor of death sentence”. In that case I have a modest suggestion. Let’s do away with our courts & laws. They cost a lot anyway. Instead, let’s go back to the ‘ancient’, ‘wise’ systems for measuring ‘general moods’ in all matters as it used to (and still does) happen in the khaps. And yes, please do not forget to throw the preamble of the Indian constitution in a dustbin along the way as well.
Let me be clear here. The Constitution of India is not a ‘reality’. It never ever claimed to be as well. It ‘strives’ to be a reality that is not inherent in our culture. If it was ‘general mood’ in our culture, we would not require to write it in the constitution as a part of a ‘to do’ list in the first place.
In case you or our other wise friends here have never read it: “We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens…” so on & so forth. Please note the Interesting parts that “we… ‘resolve’… ‘to secure’…”. We are not there.
The idea is to ‘reach’ there. To be ‘civilized’. And taking a person’s life away is not within our rights as we can’t give it back. If you remember, there has been quite a few instance where a person executed has later been found to be innocent as well. What do you do then? Do you find all involved (including people who rejoiced in the sheer adrenalin rush of perversion) and execute them to balance the scale of Justice? I guess not. Therefore, avoid possible damage in the first place – that is how civilization differs from barbarism.
Also, there is nothing great about not executing someone. I will quote our friend here again: “We cannot forgive all crimes”. By not ‘executing’ someone, how come are we ‘forgiving all crimes’? Can anyone please explain that? If you find it hard to fathom, try giving up ‘freedom to move around’ at your ‘will’ just for 1 single day my friends – you will come to value it – and also understand maybe, what it means to not have ‘liberty’ but live rest of your lives (which happens in case of a life imprisonment). And remember, this is a country where even innocents spends years and lifetimes in prison by merely being ‘accused’ in crimes they never committed. We already do ruin enough lives on a daily basic. So, I think, without the extra boost of ‘organized executions’ we will do just fine.
Therefore reach there. It’s hard maybe, but then any tom-dick-and harry can do the popular, easy stuff. Choice is yours to make. Amen!
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Good points..
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Bull-shit ! Not a great way to start a comment which for all I know shall be moderated away by author/administrator.
“Right to Live” – Lets assume for arguments’ sake Kasab & his fellows were to infiltrate via Kashmir, (many operative do), What is it that Indian soldiers are supposed to do? (a) Try and foil their attempt irrespective of who lives or dies (b) Capture them alive keeping in mind their “right to live” ? Mind you if these infiltrator are entering the country to spread mayhem. Lets say you have your answer here. Now lets say some of those infiltrators are captured after they killed as many Indians as they could and are transferred to civil establishment. Civil establishment ponders infiltrators’ “right to live and rehabilitate” ? Now, at the same time when civil establishment is pondering over morality, it has also put “poor” (yes literally poor) hired boys, paying them 6-7K/month on the border to get the establishment some more of those “infiltrators” so ponder over. Now, I for one shall not stand for (1) such ‘mornic” pondering (2) providing rights to an “infiltrator” at par with “citizens” he/she killed as many he could (3) betraying soldiers (they are also citizens) at borders (4) paying royal rehabilitation. Shivam Vij need a million words to define and understand this rather not-so-complex issue, I shall never.
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Death penalty for some cases of rape in the latest penal code amendments and Kasab’s execution have slide the death penalty debate in India. Here is another piece by one of the 203. http://bit.ly/WllogN
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You are with us. DON’T DARE TO BE AGAINST US!!!!
I am not for death penalty nor I am against it. I am still in the contemplating stage and so wouldn’t go ahead and sign the petition. But yes other reason why I won’t sign it because I don’t want hate-mail in my inbox (or on my timeline in facebook), protesters outside my house or police at my doorstep.
I am afraid everytime I like or share something(or sometimes just think of) that I might be targeted by those who would get offended by it or worse won’t agree with the particular view point.
That is the reason why I would like to steer clear of the issue of death penalty of Ajmal Kasab, as that would directly paint me an anti-nationalist. But yes I can to some extent air my views on perpetrators of communal riots(though with caution here as well) because gruesome murder on the basis of religion, caste or tribe isn’t anti-nationalist, it is all in the family and anyhow how does it matter. Deftness shown in the Kasab case, will never be visible here.
So I choose to be with the Us, as I can’t dare to be against the Us.
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