In a few hours, the special court will have pronounced Qasab's fate.

Desperately seeking justice

In a few hours, the special court will have pronounced Qasab's fate.

I don't have an iota of doubt that death is all Qasab will get. For those whose lives changed forever on 26/11, the shocking memories will continue to haunt irrespective of Qasab being dead or kept alive.

While I support capital punishment, the demand for a public hanging is not really surprising in a country, which is losing faith in the establishment. But is that a fitting solution to cap our increasing frustration levels?

I had seen Qasab on that fateful night. He had no remorse, he just went about spreading fear that has today, become a part of our lives, but will the death penalty actually mean justice? It makes me ponder.

Qasab had no remorse, he just went about spreading fear. But will the death penalty actually mean justice

Mumbai has taken repeated serial bomb blasts in its stride.
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This resilience is really a great quality of Mumbaikars. You don't want people living in a constant state of panic, or heightened terror.

That is exactly what the persons who spread terror want. But it is hard to stay calm and go through life normally, when you do not know where the next danger lurks.

The verdict will mark a full 521 days after the bloody siege in Mumbai.

Justice will be delivered to Qasab, the only one captured alive from the 10 Pakistan-based terrorists who attacked Mumbai that day. The assault left 166 people dead and 244 injured in the 60 hour carnage.

Justice for me is not in seeing him being hanged in public.
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Having watched 26/11 unfold before my eyes, it is the need to have the ability to respond to situations like this in an intelligent and more organised fashion than anything else is what I think should be crucial.

But feelings of those who demand for a public hanging and are voicing their choice for a live telecast of the same, perhaps, comes from the fact that electronic channels had televised the 26/11 attack live as it happened. While it won't be public for sure, for most of the victims there will surely be some sense of closure in the death penalty for Qasab.

But there are other questions that are being thrown up. Will his hanging, like Afzal Guru's, become a victim of politics? Highly unlikely, but such questions keep surfacing time and again.

While Sena supremo Bal Thackeray demands Qasab's death to be a public affair, people tweeting and blogging on the Internet actually voiced the thought that our government would actually keep him alive, healthy and comfortable at public expenditure to win over Muslim votes! For me, justice in the truest sense will never be avenged till we wipe out the cause of terror.

Aditya Anand is City Editor, MiD DAY

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