The UPA government, both I and II, have failed to deliver justice to the people of India. Terrorists whose culpability has been proven beyond doubt by the courts of the land are being nurtured to health, treated to comforts and are being offered asylum from facing the death sentence. The terrorists are being given the benefit of a procedure called mercy petition. The victims of the terror attack, not only the kith and kin but all Indians are now asking if the terrorists who killed hundreds of people and broke homes and dreams of thousands deserve ‘mercy.’ The Supreme Court has taken note of the delay in carrying out the judgements and asked the government for an explanation.
The callous attitude of the government can be gauged from the fact that the mercy petition of Afzal, whose death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004, for the Parliament attack conspiracy of 2001, is yet to be forwarded to the President of India by the Home Ministry. A delay of seven years for no apparent reason.
The case of Kasab is equally if not more nauseating. Keeping him alive in the prison has so far cost the government Rs 45 crore. The daily expenditure on him is rupees nine lakh. According to a recent report in the Times of India, the Pakistani terrorist is suffering from chronic ailment and is being given expensive medical facility. He has round-the-clock doctors posted near his cell. The cell he is kept is so secure that it will not be destroyed even in bombing. There is a high-security room prepared for him in the prestigious J J Hospital, Mumbai. The Indo-Tibetan Police Force has claimed Rs 11 crore in reimbursement from the Maharashtra Government for posting its men there. Whose need is it to keep Kasab alive?
The Congress’ forked tongue on the issue of fighting terrorism was exposed when it openly joined hands with the Akalis in demanding the remittance of death sentence of terrorist Devinder Singh Bhullar, cleared by the President. The Congress under Sonia Gandhi and the UPA government under Manmohan Singh have committed one of the worst crimes against the nation in communalising the anti-terror war. It has turned a blind eye to the mushrooming organisations aided, abetted by forces across the western border of India. Manmohan Singh’s infamous statement in a foreign soil that Pakistan is a victim and not perpetrator of terror added oil to the fire of the growing tendency of giving religious colour and tag to terrorists and their activities. Expression of red, saffron, green and white colours entered the discourse on the subject. Seasoned leaders like Digvijay Singh have gone on irresponsible campaign of supporting known and convicted terrorists, visiting their homes to give them assurance, in the process vilifying the security forces.
Our neighbours and friends in the region Sri Lanka and Myanmar with limited resources have demonstrated their will to fight terrorism to the finish. But in India, the religion of the terrorists is asked before deciding their fate. It is as though the government is afraid of hanging a Muslim terrorist lest it loses its vote bank. This is a grave injustice the UPA is doing to the Muslim community in India. By linking the terrorists’ punishment with the sentiment of the people, in one sweep the government has categorised the entire minority community as supporting terrorists, whereas the vast majority of Muslims, like the overwhelming majority of Hindus want to see the terrorists punished, hanged, for their inhuman, mindless violence and proxy war against the nation.
‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ One after another, the terrorists have stuck at temples, markets, railway stations, hotels and Parliament. Not one of these perpetrators has been punished. The government has accorded these killers more rights and privileges than a law-abiding Indian citizen would get.
The courts have been asked to fast track these cases, which they have done. The verdicts have been, as expected appealed against. The Supreme Court has upheld most of these convictions. The sentences have not been carried out, justice has not been done because of the government’s apathy to the sense of duty and justice. The suave Home Minister of India announces in a press conference the list of mercy petitions pending for years, without offering a word of explanation on the reasons for the delay. Going by the list, Kasab’s case for mercy petition will come up for consideration in 2018, as there are 27 cases pending before him.
There is a phenomenon called collective memory in sociology. It refers to the memory that is shared, passed on and also constructed by a group. The memories being contributed by the UPA to this are of betrayal, injustice and utter lack of nationalist pride and sense of priority. The average Indian is aghast at the government’s pussy-footing over punishing terrorists, the very few who have been caught by security forces, risking their lives.
