Is Torture The Answer?

A serious post is not something this blog is about. In fact it was created with the sole purpose to lighten the mood over the several mundane and drab happenings of the world. But there are some times, when we are forced to take a long, hard look at things and we are unable to joke about them.Which brings me to Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab. Sentenced to death on 4 counts and to life sentence on 5 others.
I have been following blog posts, notes etc. in reaction to the sentence. And nearly all are unanimous in the belief that he should be handed over to the Indian public. And then go on to suggest gruesome torture methods so that he is paid back in the same coin. I can understand the pain we feel and the hatred we have for the guy. As an Indian, I was deeply shocked and saddened by the events of 26/11 and I do feel that the perpetrators of the cowardly attack do not deserve to live. 'Sentenced to death by hanging for waging war against India' is probably as apt as it can get.
What I fail to understand, however, is the tremendous amount of vitriol and the belief that true justice will only be done if he is tortured and killed. Why? Handing over criminals to the public for justice is the done thing probably in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia etc. The very countries, we take pride in being different from. So, do we forget our culture? Do we forget the moral values and ideals which makes this country tick? Do we forget that we live in a civil society where we have a judicial system in place? Do we forget that we are not considered a hardline country mainly because we do not believe in the concept of 'street justice'? All for the sake of one man. Is he really that important, that we need to lose our standing in the world for him? How different are we from the terrorists then?
And let us also not forget, Kasab did not come to India, expecting to be caught alive. He came to India, expecting to be 'shot and killed'. That was supposed to take him to Allah. If our hatred for him is primarily why we want him dead, the least we can do is to make sure that he does not die in the way he expected to. You could probably say that I do not feel the victim's pain when I advocate killing Kasab in a humane manner. But seriously, in their moment of grief, does Tukaram Ombale's family really care about how Kasab dies, as long as he dies?
Some again might say, this is precisely we are perceived to be a soft state. No. What makes us a soft state is placing Kasab at number 52 on the death row and then waiting indefinitely till we reach that number. Place him at 1 and be done with him. That will show that we are serious about tackling terrorists and will not tolerate any person holding our country to ransom.
We already have plenty of Kasabs to deal with as it is. There is no earthly need to go about creating more, just out of sympathy for the public execution of this worthless individual. Do we really need to create more hatred in a world, which is already racked by so much of it?

A Stiff Upper Lip Please

Well considering that this post deals with (almost) entirely British subjects, it would be a good idea if you all read it while trying to keep your upper lip stiff.
I have been following the British elections very closely. And it is quite like watching a P G Wodehouse novel being enacted. Stiff upright Brits making gaffes all over the place may not make for a nice picture if you are British, but for the neutral observer, it does lead to quite a bit of hilarity. In fact Gordon Brown seems to be just another re-incarnation of George Bush (similar initials apart). So Mr. Brown was caught slandering a member of his electorate in private. Which probably would not have been such a huge thing, save for the fact that he still had a TV microphone attached to his tie. So the entire country heard as Mr. Brown referred to 'that bigoted woman'. Ah the perils of modern technology! Maybe Mr. Brown can take a lesson or two from Barack Obama and his Blackberry. In fact it is great to have a President who uses technology as comfortably as he gives speeches on a nuclear free world. Which reminds me, it is great to have a President who can actually pronounce 'nuclear' correctly. I simply cannot erase the image of George Bush going 'eh nuclar, erm nucular, ahem nuke-ular hehe'. Anyway that is quite a bit of digression. Coming back to the Brit elections on May 6, a new leader shall enter No. 10 Downing Street. And I can bet you my last bit of money that nobody is going to do a Sonia Gandhi and listen to their 'inner voice'.
Staying on in Britain and moving on to Arsenal. Actually let us move on from them as well. 1 draw and 4 defeats in the last 5 games. I should start supporting Mohun Bagan or East Bengal. At least they will give me something to cheer about on a regular basis.
In the British national sport then (which has quite certainly been hijacked by the Indians), the world cup is finally underway. More importantly the IPL is over. Which is quite a shame really. I was actually getting the hang of Zoozooing (verb: rapidly uttering incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, punctuated by high pitched squeals). And I had also almost overcome my urge to stick a pin into the hot air balloon which was pioneered by a company supposedly at the forefront of technological innovation in India. But the MRF Blimp is now gone. And it has taken the Zoozoos with it. What a pity. In the World Cup, as such, there is nothing much to write about as yet.The Pakistani team is still exceptionally well behaved. Will they still be as well behaved near the end of the tournament? I think a lesser surprise would be if Tiger Woods declared he was gay (yes the same Tiger Woods of 120 affairs in 5 years fame). So anyway, looking forward to some fireworks from the Pakistani team.
And this is almost certainly my last post from Turkish shores. I shall miss my Lahmacun, my Doner and my Tahinli Pide. Make no sense? Same here. All I know is that they are pretty delicious. Time for my palate worship then. Goodbye!