Friday, November 27, 2009

When "Justice" Itself Is Injustice

In the initial weeks after the 26/11 attacks, when Ajmal Kasab became the face of the worst terror strike our country has seen, a debate raged as to whether or not he deserved a fair trial.

I remember commenting on one blogger's furious tirade for him to undergo every physical torture possible, that, no matter how heinous the crime, the system had to be allowed to function; if we set a precedent of executing even one criminal without trial, slowly but steadily the system would lose meaning. So even though my gut reaction demanded that he be mercilessly crushed right away, my sanity reasoned that the justice system had to function.

In the year since, the justice system has "functioned", it has "functioned" to the extent of 31 crores, and is still "functioning".

31 frikkin CRORES!!!!

Thoughts of 26/11 haven't been far from any Indian's mind over the past few days, and one of the things I wondered about was how much it was costing to keep Kasab alive. But never did I imagine it would work out to 31 crores! And counting!!!

Yes, he absolutely deserved a fair trial, but come on, when the whole damn world knows he's guilty, how can it possibly take so long to sentence him??? How much more evidence, how many more witnesses does the court need??? The mind reels when it thinks of all the good uses that much money could've been put to.

Is our coastline better protected than it was last year?

Are our policemen better equipped than they were last year?

Are we more secure than we were last year?

NO.

But yes, Ajmal Kasab is better protected and more secure and probably more well-looked-after than he's ever been in his whole life, courtesy the Indian government. The system that should've dealt with this in a matter of months, if not weeks, has churned on for nearly a year, until the whole thing is nothing but a farce. This prolonged pursuit of justice itself is the greatest injustice being done.

No one is going to feel any better the day Kasab dies, because killing him doesn't bring back those lost that day. No one is going to heave a sigh of relief, because we know there are many more Kasabs out there. But Kasab must be killed, and must be killed soon, for no other reason than to stop this ridiculous drain of resources, resources which could be diverted elsewhere to actually accomplish something positive.

7 comments:

  1. Cud not agree more Shalom! Hurts to even think of where all our hard-earned money and taxes we pay is going ... in rearing a terrorist :(

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  2. DittoI feel..even when we had POW after 71 war,then also we had spentlakhs on fattening them up..we have this screwed moralitywhich makes us ignore the famine deaths,suicides of farmers,terrorist victimsand alland spendmoney somewhere else.

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  3. I'm sure other terrorists would be comforted just by the thought that even if they do get caught, they would be taken care of quite well !! Thanks to the very large hearted Indian Govt. Sickening really. Amir Kasab must be having the last laugh..

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  4. 31 crores, seriously????

    I dont quite know what to say here....without sounding bitter and angry. Is anybody going to be held responsible??? Whats wrong with the people governing our country????

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  5. Swaram - that's exactly what it is, the very expensive rearing of a terrorist....God, I don't even have words to express my disgust at this!


    Renu - I know, there are like millions of other pressing crises we face, for which the govt always throws up their hands & says we don't have money....& then you read something like this. Where do these funds come from then???


    Lostworld - seriously, if you look at this situation from a terrorist's perspective, it must be bloody hilarious.


    Reflections - 31 crores, Times of India headline news on 26/11/09. This is happening coz the govt needs to hold someone responsible for the attack, but who the hell will hold the govt responsible for bungling this up so bad????

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  6. Exactly Shalom. And sooner the better. Our coastlines are no better protected, our police force are no better equipped, the general public is no more secure and we have already spent 31 crores. And tomorrow, God forbid, there should be no scenario that some people are again held hostage to let him free.... which is so so possible in an Indian scenario.

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  7. At the end of spending 31 crores...kasab ends up saying He is innocent about the whole terrorist plot!The case would prolong till he ends up spending anther 100 crores of our tax money!!!

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