26/11: Kasab was part of a deception, says Supreme Court

New Delhi, Aug 30: Confirming the death penalty that was earlier awarded to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the

pointed out yesterday that he and the other nine Pakistanis who carried out the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai were part of a "deception, the falsehood that the terrorists were Indian

coming from Hyderabad and were connected with some fictitious organization called Mujaheddin, Hyderabad Deccan ... ."

Referring to Kasab, Justice CK Prasad and Justice Aftab Alam noted: "If the appellant had not been caught alive and the investigating agencies had not been able to unravel the conspiracy fully and in all its devious ways, the terrorists might have passed as Indian Muslims and that would have led to devastating short-term and equally debilitating long-term consequences."

The SC bench added that "It would have caused a cleavage of distrust and suspicion between communities and disturbed the communal peace and harmony of the country. It is not impossible that conflagrations would have erupted in different parts of the country, which the governments would have found difficult to contain."

"In this regard, the selection of the CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) as one of the targets for carnage assumes great importance. Trains leave for many parts of the country from the CST. Thus, as news of the carnage spread across the country through the media, travellers would start arriving in different parts of the country, some having lost their near and dear ones at CST, some with a wounded companion and others shell-shocked by the experience of a terrorist attack on the railway station. Their first-hand, eyewitness accounts of the carnage, added to reports in the print media and visuals in the electronic media, could be highly inflammatory and could easily evoke communal violence that would be difficult to contain," the apex court said.

"The deception was ominous because it aimed at destabilising Indian society and its governments. But it was equally distressing for being so deeply untruthful. Indian Muslims may have a long list of grievances against the establishment. Some of the grievances may be fanciful, some may be of their own making and some may be substantive. Nevertheless, no Indian Muslim would even think of venting his grievance like an animal, killing, maiming and wounding innocent people, his own countrymen. This is because he is not only loyal to his faith and community but equally loves his country and fellow countrymen," Justices CK Prasad and Aftab Alam stressed.

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