India Set To Execute Mumbai Terrorist
Time is running out for convicted Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab who is the sole survivor of a terrorist cell that attacked the Indian financial capital of Mumbai four years ago. Kasab was convicted off murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism and sentenced to die in May of 2012. The attack in Mumbai left more than 160 people dead.
In November of 28, Kasab and nine members of the Pakistani terrisit group Lashkar-e-Taibe attacked multiple targets around Mumbai in India. The terrorists targeted a Mumbai Jewish religious center, two luxury hotels and a train station. The group used walkie talkies and cellphones to coordinate their attacks with the groups command center in Pakistan. Pakistan and India have a long and tumultuous relationship since their separation from colonial England in the 1940’s. The two nuclear powers have fought three wars against each other and continue to both claim the disputed area of Kashmir which straddles the border between the two countries.
During the attack on the Mumbai Jewish religious center, the terrorists were especially cruel to their victims before murdering them. The terrorists broke into the center and took the rabbi and and his wife hostage, and while they were still alive they mutilated their genitals then executed them. The couple’s two year old son was present but was saved by the center’s nanny.
Indian Supreme Court Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad ruled for the court, writing:
“In view of the nature of the gravity of his crime and the fact that he participated in waging war against the country, we have no option but to uphold his death penalty,”
The sentence had been confirmed in February 2011 by the Maharashtra High Court.
The only option that Kasab has to avoid being hung is to appeal to the rime Minister of India for mercy, a move he is unlikely to take. India is ruled by a Hindu majority with a sizable Muslim minority. Pakistan was separated into two countries when the British abandoned the region so that the Hindus and Muslims would each have their own land.
