Verdict should be to hang Qasab

I fail to understand what more does the Government of India need to punish Ajmal Amir Qasab, who was caught red-handed, causing mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. The governments across the globe have a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism. Such is the extent of intolerance that if on one extreme, the USA, under the guise of global terrorism, carried on their hidden agendas and devastated Afghanistan and Iraq, then Israel on the other, launched its offensive against Palestine without batting an eyelid, at the least instigation.

Why go so far? The Sri Lankan government uprooted LTTE ufffd an outfit which had earned the reputation of being the most dangerous terrorist outfit in the world! And here, first we allow Qasab and nine others to reach the shores of our country freely, kill civilians and when we finally catch one of them, we keep him guarded for 646 days, without any punishment for reason that fails any sane mind!

The impending verdict on February 21 should be to hang Qasab till death. This is the least we can do for the 26/11 victims

Honestly, keeping Qasab alive speaks volumes about the indecisive and spineless attitude of our government.

And it is not that our government has proven this just to its own citizens. The message has, more dangerously, been conveyed to various terrorist outfits by now.

Previously also, it was owing to the let-go attitude of the Indian Government that the Indian Airlines Airbus A300, en route to IGIu00a0 Airport from Tribhuvan International Airport on December 24, 1999, was hijacked to Kandahar with 178 people on board. That hijacking led to the release of terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar (played an active role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and later was part of the 26/11 plot), Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh (who went on to murder Daniel Pearl) and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar (upon release, he started recruiting and training terrorists in Pakistan-administered Kashmir), in lieu of the hostages!u00a0

Contrast this to what happened during the Moscow theatre hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege! And the way the Russian government's no nonsense attitude towards terrorist demands set an example in front of their countrymen! Same was the case with the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis.

Maharashtra government has spent around Rs 100 crore on Qasab till now. A verdict to hang him is the least we can do for those who lost their lives during 26/11. On February 21st the verdict must be ufffd "Hang Qasab till death". And it must be implemented fast without wasting time.