Convicted of murder, conspiracy and waging war against the state, five of 12 terrorists got the death sentence while seven are to serve life terms in prison. Considering the gravity of the crime and the havoc it wreaked — a series of seven blasts on the Mumbai suburban train network in July 2006 killed 189 people and injured more than 800 others — there is no reason to believe justice has not been done.
The kin of victims will demand death for all conspirators and the defence lawyers will cry conspiracy, as is their wont. While the right to appeal is that of any convicted criminal, it does appear the verdict and the sentencing in some way assures people that their right to a peaceful life is not to be taken for granted by extremists and zealots.
The argument that no human being has a right to take another’s life, even in upholding the laws of the land, can hardly apply to a situation of terror in which the disgruntled wage war against a nation among whose sons were Gautama Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi. As a frequent target, India has no option but to keep the death penalty on the statute books even as endless arguments go on about the state as executioner.
Among all the crimes of the modern era, terrorism still remains the one without any basis in logic as the victims are invariably innocent citizens and hardly constitute a symbol of state power. To lose so many lives to wars waged in the name of religion despite the futility of centuries of history of such bigotry and killings is the saddest part.
As one of the great commuter cities in which several millions use public transport, Mumbai’s heart beats to a very busy rhythm. Having suffered in the new millennium two major strikes, so clearly plotted by forces inimical to the country, Mumbai provided a tragic backdrop to religious terrorism. Justifying the “Maximum City” tag it prides itself on, Mumbai recovered each time very quickly. To show any leniency in such cases by means of any argument placing life over death, or for summary abolition of the death penalty, would be to disrespect the sacrifices of hundreds and the fear that still haunts millions.
It is a different matter altogether that we need the investigative as well as the justice system to deal with all cases of terror, regardless of which religion the perpetrators belong to, as expeditiously as possible. Delays render a disservice to the nation itself. The same alacrity is called for even if the terrorists are Hindus, as they have been known to be in some instances. As a secular state, India cannot be seen discriminating. To see some hang while others walk free would be the ultimate miscarriage of justice.
