On the 21st morning, I was drinking my morning cuppa when my phone buzzed as usual.Expecting a usual ' Good Morning' message or similar,I checked my phone.It was a text from my friend saying ' Kasab hanged hurray'.Dismissing it as a fake rumour,I continued with my daily chores,not thinking about it at all.
But apparently,it turned out to be true.No.I did not feel any sense of jubilation or victory.Going by the usual snail pace of judiciary,this was apparently quick (Afzal Guru is still in jail since 2002)
But then,it just feels like the first of many steps.Ofcourse,India has gone from being defensive to offensive in its military posture.Yet, this does not feel like a closure in any sense.
Kasab was just a pawn in this war.An illiterate LeT outsider,who was apparently forced into this.Or so he says.The point is,he was trained to die.Kill and then die.None of his accomplices or Kasab himself was expected to live beyond that night.
Getting caught alive was not in their plan.Kasab told details like never before.How it was planned,directed and executed.How exactly did he kill 164 people out there.How on the 26th November,2008,he calmly pulled out an automatic rifle with a slight bounce in his step and moved towards platform 7 and 8.He revealed all details to the Joint commissioner Rakesh Maria about the whole layout.
But nothing inspires hope.Islamabad never established the role of their state actors.
And the loopholes in the security system need to be looked into actively.Also,some security measures need to be ensured against the homegrown terrorists who seemed to have retained the ability to strike.
The hanging of Kasab should be therefore made as a point to ensure that India will stay strong and defensive and not tolerate any kind of terrorism henceforth.This is no closure.This is the beginning.
