Mumbai Muslims celebrate Kasab’s death sentence

MUMBAI - Muslims were Friday at the forefront of the celebrations in the city since the death sentence pronounced on Ajmal Amir Kasab a day ago and one has even offered to be the hangman for the Pakistani terrorist.

The celebrations which went on till late Thursday night and continued in some areas even before the Friday namaaz, took many other citizens by surprise.

“We are not celebrating like Muslims - we are Indians and this is India’s victory over a Pakistani ’shaitaan’ - and he deserved nothing less than the death penalty,” said Shabbir S., the trustee of a hospital in south Mumbai who lit firecrackers worth nearly Rs.10,000 soon after the sentence was pronounced Thursday.

Many Muslims in the city also happily distributed sweets, especially pedas - the symbolic sweetmeat distributed for all auspicious occasions or glad tidings - to friends, neighbours and even people on the streets.

Sayed Zafar, a businessman, said there were news reports suggesting a shortage of hangmen in India.

“No problems at all. I am ready to become a hangman and I shall hang Kasab - it will give me great satisfaction - if the government permits,” Zafar told IANS.

A Muslim social worker and businessman, Afzal Sheikh, said the judgment should come as an eye-opener to the whole world about the majesty of the Indian democracy.

“Now that India has done what it promised, will the US break relations with Pakistan and stop supporting that country?” Sheikh demanded.

The Raza Academy in south Mumbai, a forum of prominent Muslim intellecturals, was also at the forefront of celebrations. Its office-bearers burst fire crackers and distributed sweets.

Some families - like the Kachwalas in Kandivli - offered a ‘namaaz’ of thanksgiving after the judgment was pronounced.

“This one human being is responsible for taking so many innocent lives that he cannot be a Muslim, and no terrorist has any religion - they are only terrorists and must go to hell,” said Abdullah Kachwala.

Mohammed Taufiq Shaikh, a humble tea-vendor at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) where Kasab and his associate Abu Ismail killed many people, perhaps celebrated the most. He distributed tea free of cost to all commuters who cared to take it Thursday.

He had the maximum reason to be happy - he was after all a victim of one of the bullets fired by Kasab and survived. Reason enough to distribute free tea…!!