Indians elated after Kasab Hanging while Separatists kept quite

Indians were quite delighted to hear Ajmal Kasab hanged in Pune’s Yeraveda Jail as was evident from their reaction in various social media sites

“Dear #Kasab, those aren’t virgins. And you’re not in heaven. Sincerely, etc,” tweeted Sonia Faleiro, an author from Mumbai.

“Millions of Kasabs will be born if we do not stop brainwashing our innocent children with religion,” tweeted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

“Of all the reports/opinions on Kasab’s hanging I came across on the Internet, this one seemed the most apt – Ajmal Kasab’s hanging: death of an ignorant foot soldier,” Yashodeep Sengupta, a journalist from Kolkata, wrote on Facebook.

“Ajmal Kasab hanged on Nov 21st. Winter session of parliament begins on Nov 22nd,” Praful Bhat, a media professional from Mumbai, wrote on Facebook.

“Ponty, Thackeray and Kasab. This month make sure you avoid drunken driving, or riding without helmet or even walking on the pavement. You sure want to avoid this list!” wrote Bilal Zaidi, a journalist from New Delhi, on Facebook.

“Never hated someone so much in my life..ROT IN HELL KASAB!” wrote Mumbai’s Pankaj Gupta on his Facebook wall.

In another post, he wrote: “Pranab Da…dil khush kar diya aapne!”

“No RIP Kasab. I hope the bastard rots in hell,” tweeted Tunku Varadrajan, Newsweek magazine’s India editor.

Sharath Shetty from Mumbai wrote on his Facebook: “The expensive Terrorist Kasab is Hanged Today !!!!! at last.”

“Believes that the death penalty is justified in the ‘rarest of rare’ cases, as in the case of Kasab. While as a society we can be satisfied at Kasab finally got his comeuppance, this is but a small step, in the big battle ahead.

Let alone the challenge of bringing the perpetrators, handlers and masterminds to book in Pakistan, can we say that we are safer or more secure today from these acts than we were 4 years ago ? Are our seas safer ? …..And as a civilised society, it isn’t right to celebrate anyone’s death. Even if an execution is justified,” wrote Rukmani Vishwanath of Delhi on Facebook.

Kashmiri Separatists chose to keep mum.

The hanging of Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist caught during the Mumbai terror attack, did not produce any adverse reaction in the Kashmir Valley Wednesday.

Separatist leaders did not wish to comment on the hanging in Pune.

The rhythms of ordinary life continued in the summer capital Srinagar. Other towns in the valley were also peaceful even as the news of Kasab’s hanging was widely broadcast and telecast.

Although some young men attempted to forcibly shut markets in the Maisuma area of Srinagar, their efforts yielded nothing.

Transport, educational institutions, businesses and government offices functioned as usual. Banks and post offices saw normal business.

Most separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, chose not to comment on the development.

Father of NSG Commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who martyred during the counter attack,said Ajmal Amir Kasab’s execution was a step in the right direction.

“It is not a late decision, and it is a step in the right direction. But a lot has to be done before perpetrators of the Mumbai attack are brought to justice (in Pakistan),” K. Unnikrishnan told IANS over phone from Bangalore.

“I am extremely satisfied with the government decision. It has brought a sense of relief to those who lost their near and dear ones in that attack,” he said.

Unnikrishnan also said, “The execution was quick but the investigation was late. Terrorists are decided and well prepared for their death. Others like him (Kasab) will continue to do it, we can’t stop terrorists.”

Choked with emotion, the commando’s father said celebrating anyone’s death is “totally wrong”.

“You can’t celebrate anybody’s death,” he said.

Ashok Kumar, uncle of Sandeep Unnikrishnan, told IANS over phone from Calicut in Kerala: “We have lost Sandeep, he will not come back. But justice has been done by hanging Kasab.”

Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a Major in the Indian Army, was attached to the Special Action Group of the National Security Guard at the time of the Nov 26-29, 2008, attack in Mumbai.

He was killed at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel in Mumbai when he was leading a team of crack commandos and clearing the iconic building of the terrorists.

Hunam Rights Activists Condemn the Execution of Kasab

Condemning the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving Pakistani terrorist from the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem, Indian civil rights organisations have demanded abolition of capital punishment in India.

“We strongly condemn the hanging of Kasab, it is against the worldwide demand for abolition of the death penalty, it is also a retrograde action of the state – it restarted implementation of ‘judicial murder’ which was kept in limbo for quite sometime,” Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) secretary member Ranajit Sur said in a statement.

“Only yesterday (Tuesday) UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for moratorium on death penalty and Kasab hanging is our rulers’ answer. Raise voices of protest,” added Sur.

Hours after Kasab was hanged in a Pune jail, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US-based rights group, issued a statement urging India to remove the death penalty from its legal framework.

“For a crime as serious and horrible as what Kasab committed, he deserved a life in prison. Don’t think that is a lighter sentence. India should join other nations that have stopped the use of the capital punishment,” HRW South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly wrote on Twitter.