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NEW DELHI: India's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of a group of militants who attacked the country's financial capital, Mumbai, in 2008 killing 166 people.
“We are left with no option but to award death penalty,” the two judges said in a court order.
“The primary and foremost offence committed by Kasab is waging war against the government of India.”
“The Supreme Court has today dismissed the appeal of Mohammad Kasab,” Gopal Subramaniam, a lawyer for the prosecution, told reporters after the verdict.
The judges had opened the appeal by Kasab, who is being held in a maximum-security prison in Mumbai, in January.
After losing his Supreme Court petition, Kasab is expected to lodge a final appeal for clemency with the president.
Kasab, a Pakistani national, was found guilty on more than 80 charges in May 2010, including murder and waging war on India, and was sentenced to death by hanging.
He was filmed walking through Mumbai's main train station carrying an AK-47 and a knapsack on his back during an attack in which nearly 60 people were gunned down.
It was part of a series of coordinated strikes on key landmarks in the city, including luxury hotels and a Jewish centre.
The three-day rampage led to an increase in tension between India and Pakistan, causing a temporary suspension of peace talks.
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On DawnNews
Comments (85) Closed
Aug 29, 2012 10:54am
I agree that the Indian legal system is creaky..but at least we do not have a Chief Justice who vows by religion to run the country's legal system as does the CJI of Pakistan,Iftikar Chaudhry!
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Aug 29, 2012 11:02am
You pay so much tax to government and in return you mal-treatment from government workers and you are proud of your law. what a joke.
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Aug 29, 2012 12:55pm
Yes naseer,you are right,color,cast ,country and ethnicity should not matter.A crimnal is a crimnal.
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Aug 29, 2012 11:55am
Hats off to the justice system in India - the blood of 175+ people and their families may now have peace of mind.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:05am
Do not blame an entire nation for the folly of a few.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:30am
This should have happened long ago. Killers of humanity should be hanged till death. I know pakistan has a lot of problems of its own. But it would be good that it does not disturb others but solve the internal problems. Its the ministers who are doing this and the people are Innocent .
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Aug 29, 2012 06:37am
who is get high benefits in waging indo-pak war? answer is suppliers of war weapons, india and pakistan spent most of budget in defense, if they spend that money in education, then poverty will be reduce at record low level. I hope we people appreciate positive thoughts amoung both nations.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:09am
So happy.................. lets get rid of parasites living in Pakistan too.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:31am
Jai Bajrangbali ki
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Aug 29, 2012 01:10pm
What is wrong if he is prasing the LORD in his own way? Lets not start judging people just because they are different.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:40am
@Ali: Grow up buddy...
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Aug 29, 2012 11:46am
dont feel so proud. Remember, recently son of a retired army personal who now deals in weapon got 2 years of community service after killing 6 persons on road while driving under the influence of alcohol. Hit and run, drunk, he could not drive his car as one person was stuck in the wheels, so wan over him knowingly. This is just one single example.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:31am
Hope pakistani people are not angry on this verdict. lol....
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Aug 29, 2012 07:00am
shame on india for not providing toilets to its 800 million poor and starving population.....and instead focusing on Pakistan when you should be focusing on yourselves and your poor people
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Aug 29, 2012 07:37am
seriously?? then you must be thinking pakistan is self inflicting the attacks that happen every other day in pakistan for sheer sympathy and publicity.. how about you kill yourself for sheer sympathy and publicity.. grow up man
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Aug 29, 2012 06:18am
Finally after a long wait of almost 4 years justice has been brought to the 166 innocent civilians killed by these barbarians..It also shows no matter how heinous crime one may commit the Indian law and jurisdiction give him all the opportunities of legal battle..All the proceedings against this "warrior of Islam" were transparent..He was even given a lawyer to defend himself..I think the verdict will establish the truth that no matter how late but the terrorists are surely punished in India and that too in a completely impartial way..I only wish now Kasab should join his other 9 friends in Jahannum as soon as possible..
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Aug 29, 2012 11:50am
" Why should legal aid be provided to such a terrorist?"
Perhaps because we are a country governed by laws, where every accused has a right to a fair legal process? Or maybe you prefer the North Korean model?
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Aug 29, 2012 11:59am
so, the Jai Bajrangbali didn't get you the response you wanted, neither did the Jai Hanuman, now you're back with Har Har Mahadev and a new alias... you are very persistent
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Aug 29, 2012 11:50am
Shakti hasnt said that Govt has no right but saying that Govt. should not have a right to take someone's life.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:58am
so did the Pakistani government. I personally dont believe he was though. India self inflicted 26/11 for sheer sympathy and publicity
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Aug 29, 2012 08:27am
i have proud of my Indian law .......it a good step
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Aug 29, 2012 12:33pm
lol... good one..
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Aug 29, 2012 12:06pm
Your bus is leaving!
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Aug 29, 2012 11:53am
" India is light years away from this kind of policy."
Why? Are Indians stuck in a different era of evolution? India was the leading light of pacifism at one point in history. I wonder what Emperor Ashoka would have made of your thoughts...
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Aug 29, 2012 08:41am
shakti, you are a confused person. Death penalty is right and Govt has the right. The law of the land will prevail.
- Gullivan
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Aug 29, 2012 06:39am
Thanks to DAWN team for bringing this news in an impartial way earlier than even The Hindu..Your quality journalism is always commendable..
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Aug 29, 2012 06:38am
Hold on Guys, we have just reached the interval..
He will file for mercy with the President of India. And we have a spineless government facing election in about a year. They will feed him the choicest Biryani in jail, for atleast a few years now :-(
All said & done, it is a severe indictment of Pakistani government. If it was handled by the intelligence agencies, a direct one & if it was a bunch of people going berserk on their own then an indirect one, casting doubt on its ability to make its writ run across its land.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:18am
My request to poor parents in Pakistan....send your children to schools rather than sending them to madarsas or training camps.
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Aug 29, 2012 11:54am
Have you forgotten our intolerance. India killed sikhs in riots, muslims in Guhrat, Mumbai and in Assam, we damamaged mosque, hindus were killed after 84, christans were killes in Orrisa..dont pretend that we are from West Europe. You are from similar country like Pakistan with the difference that you kill nationally and they trian to kill internationally.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:01am
Like a good soldier he did what fundamentalists in Pakistan told him to to do. The entire nation of Pakistan is at trial here and the international community says you are guilty. If Kasab hangs, figuratively, it is same as hanging Pakistan.
If it was my country (I'm Australian), I would have died of shame long ago.
But Pakistan is an International Pariah, totally shameless. Why should you care? Carry on sponsoring international terrorism chaps ! Good job !!
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Aug 29, 2012 06:07am
Go Kasab, Allah is waiting for you with hell doors opened . Go join your 9 friends there.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:54am
It is a welcome judgement. However,the Indian legal system needs to be overhauled,for expediting the trial of such a dreaded terrorist. Why should legal aid be provided to such a terrorist? The precious time of courts was wasted. Remember,the trial of terrorists caught in Bali bomb blast in Indonesia was completed in four months,and the terrorists were executed.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:49am
I wish hanged till death to be replaced by tortured till death...
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Aug 29, 2012 07:54am
Indian poor don't have toilets is known. Are the Pakistani poor living in castles? What kind of rhetoric is this - Just because we can't lift our poor to a decent standard of living, we have also forfeited the right to protect ourselves? That is the law of the jungle - finders, keepers. We are some distance away from it in India.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:23am
Atleast Dawn has agreed that Kasab is a Pakistan born . Thanks Dawn.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:50am
I have no idea what your comment means or why it was published. Are you condoning this attack?
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Aug 29, 2012 11:32am
Even for such a cruel Kasab who killed no. of civilians staying at hotels also, is this rule applicable..
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Aug 29, 2012 05:35am
There was never a question of any option... he deserved what he gave other innocent people.. DEATH.. i would like to see him getting hanged soon....
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Aug 29, 2012 09:33am
Why are we light years away? is crime rate any lower in countries that impose capital punishment than in the ones that do not? and how do you suggest that its okay for north European society and not us? Do their mothers love their kids less? that they can have a national consensus on not having death penalty and we seek retribution, does it not point to a flaw in our mental makeup? hasn't this point to us having reached a point where we seek revenge and not proper order of things? Wasn't seeking retribution was what Kasab was doing (at least in his mind)? Don't we have responsibility to provide our future generations a society where killing is condemned? Don't we need grow out of this hatred that we have for fellow human beings.
I hate him, or rather his acts, as much as any one of you.
I am not for a moment belittling the victims but surly by providing Kasab a martyr status we would. Then there would be people in world who would praise his sacrifice. Who would try and follow his path and seek retribution. Surely we can show our might and eliminate them or else we can put him behind bars and show how wrong Kasab is. He is no martyr.
I don't know about you but i sure don't want him to be praised by anyone at all. Not even my enemies.
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Aug 29, 2012 10:45am
Sarabjit Singh who bomb blast in Pakistan (Lahore and Faisalabad) city and supreme court gave him death penalty but till now it is not implemented. Let see what is next????
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Aug 29, 2012 08:08am
Try telling that to the families of the 175+ people who died. These policies may work well in a scandic/north europe societies. Even US & most of western Europe cannot stomach this. India is light years away from this kind of policy. Retribution has to be proportionate and not belittle the victims.
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Aug 29, 2012 12:17pm
a murderer whatsoever shape or form he comes,whether he is a terrorist,or a street killer should be punished hard.no body has the right to take another persons life.
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Aug 29, 2012 11:16am
No, India doesn't spend money on Defence as much as Pakistan. We spend more on 2G, 3G, Coal Gate, CWG and other scams. We are more interested in filling the Swiss bank accounts than killing your people. :-)
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Aug 29, 2012 09:18am
unless death is abolished by statute, death sentence will continue awarded..this isa present day reality. our j.p and acharya kriplani asked then janta goverenment to abolish death sentence, but they did not.agree. even now no forward movement has taken place towards abolishing death sentence. i feel rigorous imprisonment for life sentence will meet the justice
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Aug 29, 2012 11:47am
If they had not spent crores on Kasab then some Indian politician had lootes this amount in corruption
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Aug 29, 2012 11:59am
ahmed bhai there is no point justifying anything to Jawad.. he is an ignorant pakistani much like all others over there.. totally blind and have no sense of understanding nor they know what is it to argue on completely baseless things... let them live as they want...
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Aug 29, 2012 06:55am
No Pakistani will be crying over this guy. We have enough issues on our plate. Nor do we care or want to hear about 26/11 since we have 26/11 type attacks in our own country -- being waged by an enemy that is against our existence as a state. India can't claim moral high ground here either, considering that there are indian nationals still out on the loose who have Pakistani blood on their hands -- and many of these nationals are still out in the open.
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Aug 29, 2012 09:56am
Currently In India there are estimated 3000 terrorists eating Biryani, Mutton , Kabaab everyday.
We Indians pay taxes , that money is used by Congress Govt to feed terrorists
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Aug 29, 2012 09:55am
In these days who would like to listen to such 'moral talk'.It is easily said and written in 'print'.Nobody can tolerate such suggestions.If one worm is hung who will remember him the next day?Public memory is short.Kasab will be forgotten and India can save money and expenditure incurred on him.
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Aug 29, 2012 11:49am
in the west europe there is nothing like death sentence. Do not pass false information. What Shakti wants to say is that the state should not take someone else's life.
If US does it it doesnt mean its good.
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Aug 29, 2012 10:13am
Too late a verdict. Crores of rupees has been wasted to keep this terrorist alive which could have been spent on better purposes. He should have been hanged in months.
Kasab should be hanged outside CST station in full public view.
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Aug 29, 2012 08:38am
Pakistanis shouldnt even say such things.pakistan cant even provide LIFE to its citizens.
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Aug 29, 2012 10:28am
Why not ....Does the people of that nation are adverse to the idea of punishing a non muslim conyry by sending terrorist........i follow and watch pakistani channel where i see most of the pople support or endore any kind if attack on india to get Kashmir to humble india to release water or a valid tool to presurise india on deplomatic tables.....
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Aug 29, 2012 08:50am
I think you don't understand meaning of the word "martyr".. Martyr is someone who died for the sake of the welfare of the country or religion..How can this person could be called a martyr in India?? Maybe, for persons of skewed political and religious thinking he may be a so called "martyr" but surely not for India and Indians.. Although I respect your sense of humanity, I would strongly suggest you to go and meet the families of the deceased in Mumbai carnage before preaching your half baked ideas anywhere..
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Aug 29, 2012 10:07am
SC bench did not say that the primary and foremost of offence committed by Kasab was waging war against the government of India. The bench held him guilty, first and foremost, of waging war against the country in the Mumbai terror attack case and said it was left with no option but to uphold the death sentence. The war was not against the government of India, it was against the country and its people. There is huge difference between the two.
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Aug 29, 2012 08:58am
Dear shakti...
please tell us what is the harshest punishment which should given to that terrorist.. if not death
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Aug 29, 2012 08:59am
What you are saying is perfectly correct but our constitution gives eveyone (including foreigners present on Indian soil) the right to defend himself legally (i.e. through a lawyer) in any legal process initiated against him in any Indian court of law.. So, only according to our constituional provisions the processes were carried against Kasab..Though it is surely amazing what took them to take 4 years in deciding the verdict..
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Aug 29, 2012 09:02am
Mr. Sultan you cannot be sultan of India even after you guys are least trusted minority to join indian army (less than 2%) so which india are you favouring for?
Indian Muslims are being discriminated to get goverment jobs.
http://escapefromindia.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/muslims-in-the-indian-army-only-2/
Until and unless indian army do not stop killings in Kashmir, 26/11 kind of incidents will continue.
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Aug 29, 2012 04:53pm
What about the masterminds of the mumbai mayhem? Bringing the brain behind this massacre to justice is the real solace to the victims. This verdict is only a water wash.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:27am
you forgot to mention israel and US
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Aug 29, 2012 07:32am
Toilets ? do you think you would be planning to construct a toilet in your house when you have neighbours pointing guns at you ?
No doubt we are poor and need to improve a lot , ALOT ,we have a weak governing system but a strong constitutional base (and pakistan knows that ) and people are working towards it .Inshallah we'll overcome all these issue in near futurre.
by the way i dont think pakistan will ever allow world organisation(who/unicef or watevr) to count number of toilets in the country.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:46am
Time to reflect on growing intolerance and extremism in Pakistan. All countries have their share of religious fundamentalists but Pakistan has proportionately more than most countries except perhaps Saudi Arabia. Ajmal is a product of his environment and there will be more Ajmals created who will terrorise Pakistan, India, and the rest of the world unless the causative factors are not addressed. It can only be hoped that most Pakistani's realize that terrorists are breeding in Pakistan not becuase of Israel or India or USA but because illiteracy and poverty conspire to make most people susceptible to the dispensible message of the rabid mullahs and the armed forces allow or accept this depreciation of your greatest asset to divert attention from its growing share of, well, everything. Only literacy will help sow the seeds of a slow but vigorous recovery. Ajmal's death sentence helps establish justice but the greater good of liberty and happiness is still incarcerated in the greater prison that Pakistan has become for those who we would like to think mean and want well.
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Aug 29, 2012 08:00am
Who is asking for your personal opinion and who cares about what you say?
No government will accept a terrorist as their citizen unless there is clear evidence. There were reports from Pak TV where they were pointing the house of Kasab and his family members.
So pak had no option but to accept the reality this time.
Somehow you seem to be on a different planet to accept this reality.
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Aug 29, 2012 09:30am
He should be hanged to death.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:27am
Master minds of this attack are enjoying their life freely with the support of the Pak government. What they achieved by killing innocent people. Who lost them, their parents and family only. Foolish people like kasab should think once again. You cann't win a war with India. You are wasting your life. Think wisely before you go to India. Don't blindly believe in religion. Some inteligent people making them as their tool. Foolish people.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:10am
Sorry I don't share your one sided opinion about terror as this will not solve outstanding problems between us.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:41am
KASAB ,You will meet rest of your 9 friends in JAHANNUM..:-)Terrorism has no religion.This man should be hanged immediately.
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Aug 29, 2012 09:53am
Not only Kasab, Afzal Guru should also be hanged very soon
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Aug 29, 2012 06:28am
India has sentenced Gujarat killers of Muslims - 27 plus were sentenced . India has sentenced Kasab, the killer everyone saw, live on TV across the worldat a Bombay city station. India has sentenced the Muslims who were involved in the killings of some Hindus in a train burning before the Gujarat riots.
Will the Land of The Pure now want to sentence the killer of the Governor of Punjab, and push forward the "on hold" trial of alleged conspirators who sent Ajmal Kasab and others to Bombay etc.? Or will it decide to not bite the bullet and let this fester, much to the long term cancer further spreading in Pakistan to add to the fires already lit by TTP/Jihadis waging war against the state, against non correct Muslims and minorities etc?
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Aug 29, 2012 06:29am
I am a Pakistani and I strongly believe no one and I say absolutely no one has the right to take another person's life. If one does then they should be prepared to have theirs taken as well.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:30am
Jai Hanuman ji ki
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Aug 29, 2012 07:05am
The person responsible for that is behind bars but people responsible for 26/11 are still in open.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:07am
@Ali: Your mulla told you this right
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Aug 29, 2012 07:03am
I believe no one has a right to take another persons life. Not even the government. What he did was wrong, but by hanging him we are making him a martyr, which he does not deserve. More will follow him and seek martyrdom.
We can not stop people from committing crime by putting them to death. We, humans, have been killing people for past 5,000 years it should have stopped crimes by now, has it? What we need to do is to make people see that killing others is wrong, whatever may your cause be.
I am not saying he should be left free, of course he should be punished, but in a manner that makes world see that he was wrong, and by this i mean especially the people who believe he was right.
Ultimate aim of justice is to provide relief and not revenge. No one can bring back people who got killed in unfortunate events, but we, as society, need to ensure that no more such crimes are perpetrated, and for that what people need is to realize is complete futility of massacring humanity.
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Aug 29, 2012 06:50am
What about the killers of Samjhauta Express passengers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Samjhauta_Express_bombings
Indian terrorists set fire to Train and burned more than 70 people alive?
One of my cousion died in that terrorist attack.
No verdict for those terrorists? and even are far away from being caught and to be brought them to justice.
Guys this game is not started now and it will never end.
it has many killing episodes and both countries have played HOLIEE with the blood of innocent people.
So Please do no consider yourselves pious.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:59am
Sorry friend but have to cut thro this "We are also suffering" argument. Your suffering is basically from people who were fed, indoctrinated, armed by your state institutions. Now they are turning around & devouring you. You cannot claim martyrdom for this.
India is primarily a victim of exported terror. We did not arm any group to harm others & if we did, they have not come to haunt us till now. Like 26/11, most attacks have been traced back to Pakistan and these have to be answered as much for the Indian victims to find an end to their suffering as it is for Pakistan to soul search.
Where Indian right went berserk like in Samjauhta, they will rot their entire life in jail. Can you pls tell me what do you intend to do with Hafiz Sayed?
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Aug 29, 2012 07:09am
If pakistan let us live (i mean your guys dont kill innocent indians on railway stations) then we can concentrate on other things.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:29am
shame on pakistan for exporting terror to India and the world
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Aug 29, 2012 05:30am
Death to Kasab.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:24am
Well , what else you could expect ? India should hang him to death asap.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:09am
HEADLINE:
Mohammed Kasab turns into a coward. Refuses martyrdom.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:53am
Good one....May be some of the local papers in Pakistan will put up such a headline.
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Aug 29, 2012 05:43am
Har Har Mahadev..........
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Aug 30, 2012 06:11am
Believe me, a quick drop to death is too little and too quick a punishment for a heinous crime, and it is state-sponsored murder. And for a terrorist willing to give up his life for his cause, death penalty is no big deal. Instead, keep him in solitary confinement till his death with no chance of parole or visitors, with the same bland, but nutritious, food given everyday o sustain him. He should not be allowed to see even the daylight, and there will be no TV or any other form of entertainment. By law, the government should have no authorization to release him even under exceptional circumstances (like as ransom), unless the person is proven inncocent later in the highest court of law. The person will soon beg the authorities to hang him and spare the ordeal.
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Aug 30, 2012 07:23am
as if BJP leaders are innocent :P
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