The Dream Of Every Fighter

The killing rampage that began on November 26, 2008 when ten Pakistani terrorists stealthily made their way into the coastal city of Mumbai, India, has now been concluded with the judicial execution of the sole remaining terrorist - Mohammad Ajmal Kasab.  He alone was left to recount for Indian authorities who it was who had sent him and his colleagues on their mission to massacre as many innocents as they could, in the name of violent Islamist jihad.

Described by childhood friends as quietly unassuming, he was charged with 86 criminal offences, including murder and waging war against India.  He left Karachi by boat for Mumbai's southern tip, where the ten divided into four pre-arranged groups of well-rehearsed marauders whose murderous rampage lasted an unbelievable sixty hours, terrorizing people in hotels, restaurants, a railway station, hospital and a Jewish centre.

In all, 166 people were killed in their gun-and-grenade rampage.  Their use of cellphones to keep in touch with their handlers and the tracing back of some of the calls to the Pakistani military and secret service implicated them along with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba of whom the ten were conscripted members eager to do their blessed martyrdom duty to Islam.

In questioning Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, Indian investigators were able to establish the connivance of Pakistan, although Pakistan still continues to deny any involvement in the assault that took so many lives and shook the govenrment in New Delhi to its core, making headlines around the world.  The decision to expeditiously execute Mohammad Kasab allowed a certain justice to take its course. 

The victims demanded no less.  This was India's first execution in eight years.  A secret execution; the body of the prisoner was buried on the grounds of the prison in which he had been held.  India's Supreme Court had upheld the 2010 death sentence in August.  The prisoner's plea for clemency had been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

India still accuses Islamabad of failing to act against those who planned the raids, including the founder of LeT, Hafiz Saeed.  Pakistan continues to deny official involvement, pointing out it has seven suspects who are being prosecuted for their role in the attacks.

In Mohammad Kasab's home town of Faridkot, his aunt said she was proud of him, and has requested his body to be sent back to her.  It should not be.  His grave there would become a terrorist-pilgrimage shrine.  In the village, people threw stones and slapped around journalists who went there to write their stories and take interviews.

A senior commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba called Mohammad Kasab a hero, and said that his exploits and his martyrdom would inspire more such attacks.  "To die like Kasab is the dream of every fighter", he boasted.