When I heard during the day today that Ajmal Kasab, the lone arrested terrorist from the 26/11 attack has requested for a Pakistani lawyer to defend his case, I could not suppress a laughter and thought, boy! This man has some nerve. But soon, my laughter turned into horror when I read that the court is actually “considering all options”  including getting a Pakistani lawyer to defend him.

If this is indeed true, this would be the biggest mockery of the sentiments of the people of India. Kasab is an open and shut case. He is accused – rather mild word to use in his context – of being party to the group of terrorists who mercilessly killed over 150 innocent citizens. He and his gang raged a war with India, which they lost but not after the sacrifices of these innocent citizens, some of whom were perhaps the sole bread-winners for their families. And how do we treat him? Royally. He has been enjoying all the hospitality that we as Indians are known for the world over. We have at the expense of public money, offered him a lawyer to defend his case, and this guy has balls to demand a Pakistani lawyer. Ridiculously, we consider that as an option!

That poses several questions immediately. What are we trying to achieve here? Are we trying to send a message to the world that everyone is equal under our constitution and it is his fundamental right? If so, would that extend to a foreigner? And a terrorist at that? Do international terrorists, who wage a war against India, be treated as ordinary criminals? Shouldn’t there be military courts to prosecute such people? And, should we allow a Pakistani lawyer, who doesn’t know the IPC, be allowed to defend him? I am sure someone can throw the law book at me and may convince me that I am wrong; and there is a provision- more like a loophole – for Kasab to actually have a Pakistani lawyer defend him in India.

And that leads to my final set of questions. What about the public sentiment? That has no value? Is the Kasab case similar to other cases in India? Is there a precedent of prosecuting an international terrorist in India? If not, then should we not set a precedent here and fast-track this case, rather than letting it turn into a farce that may drag on for years? Why should he have the same fundamental rights that any Indian citizen has? I find myself very helpless and very annoyed with all this drama; and I am sure the majority of Indians would feel so too. Unfortunately, in practicing an incorrect comprehension of democracy, we have let several such dramas happen in the past and we are not willing to learn our lessons. I do not know who to blame, the judiciary or the government. But as I see it, Ajmal Kasab will live for many more years, flaunting and taunting the Indian democracy at us Indians. He may eventually die a natural death due to old age still awaiting a verdict in this case, rather than any prosecution that we have in our minds for him. After all, we haven’t hanged Afzal Guru yet, have we?