Whenever the news reporter says it has been more than 4 years since the 26/11 attack,  it feels as if all happened just last year. It felt the same when it was the 2nd and then the 3rd anniversary and it still feels the same. My parents and I were sitting in the living room, after dinner and the ticker on Times Now flashes news about some shots being fired outside Leopold café. My mom thought it must be some rich kid wielding a gun. I sometimes hope it should have been just that and not what followed for the next three days.
Those gunshots were fired for three days,, but the aftermath is still far from over. 200+ lives were affected in this incident directly and the others got scarred indirectly. Questions were raised, heads rolled, decisions taken but nothing done. All we have is one pawn in our hands, a pawn that we have treated like a King (so far). The rage that burns in every Indian, the some sort of peace that we attained when SC upheld the decision to hang him, the distraught when we came to know that he can again contest it and live longer.
Hanging him will deter others from attacking us —
This is a misconception. In fact this is what they want; if and when he is hanged they will say that one of their brothers is now in heaven. Those people who are trained are impoverished peasants or someone who can be easily moulded, like a child. Before training they are brainwashed and the idea of heaven is implanted in them so whatever we do to him that is not going to work against them.
Will his death give you peace?
If it does will it really make you forget those days? Most of us who are crying about him not being hanged weren’t even directly affected. Of course that doesn’t take away the right of protesting, but think for once. Does him being alive or dead anymore matter to you? Mumbai always was and always will keep on running at the pace it was. The people wake up, do their work, go to sleep and repeat.
The reason his very presence in the headlines bothers me is because he is an ugly reminder of the things that happened. All those people including the inspectors and soldiers who died; it is an insult to even keep him alive. For what it is worth give him 200 deaths if possible. Kill him, revive him and then kill him again each time, every which way possible. But will that suffice? Will this bring those husbands, wives, fathers, sons, daughters back into this world?
Let us face the fact. Even if you want him to be hanged as soon as possible, it is not in your hands. So how about we share fewer pictures and kill him socially. Why don’t we just ignore his presence and shout against the lack of security around. Scream about the injustice you are meted with by the government. About how we don’t feel safe and what we think must be done in order to fix it.
Whenever the guard frisks you, whenever you are asked for identification, don’t flaunt connections but comply with them. Doesn’t it really make you think when your bag is just checked for namesake at some mall and for a second you worry “there could have been anything in my bag”. Ask them to check every part of the baggage carefully. So what if you running a bit late and you may take a bit more time but at least there is a sense of safety that someone can’t just barge in with a gun and go on a rampage. Isn’t that your most recurring nightmare?
So let us bury Kasab and not give him the attention he and his fellow terrorist so crave for. Rather educate one another on safety, brotherhood and kill the ideology of hatred