Wake up now

On February 21, 2011, the Bombay High Court on a serious remark confirmed the death penalty for Ajmal Kasab, the perpetrator behind 26/11 event. Post verdict, the media community went berserk on analysing the fate of Kasab in the coming days, whether he would move to SC to challenge the verdict, and what if the SC doesn't alter the decision of Bombay HC, all in a farcical manner, he can even try the President's clemency as the last straw, but the most sure-shot one, given the number of mercy petitions pending at the President's platter, Kasab can live another generation, and that too at the cost of the exchequer money or you can say the public money. And if the media reports are to be believed, the nation has already spent Rs. 45 crores on Kasab's security, health, and other maintenance expenses and still counting. What India has achieved by selling out such huge taxpayers' money? Has it got concrete information whether Pakistan's support on deliberation of a blatantly heinous crime like this was ascertained? Even though India receives such information from different sources and ensures their veracity, still the political class will never allow us to take some measurable stringent steps.

Imagine the amount of money spent on Kasab, if we could have slated this money for development purpose of nation, we could have created 45 primary health centres or built 100 primary schools, or on a more conservative note, we could have provided employment to 3750 people for a year at a consolidated Rs. 10,000 per month, which would have helped over 11,250 people (considering the fact that each earning member has two dependents) to get three meals a day for a year. However facts may sound sacrosanct, we will never ever try to weigh the pros and cons of anything and everything that hounds a developing nation like India where 50% of childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition, but we will take pride in ensuring five star security to a terrorist and flaunt our humanitarian values. For God sake, forget all these nonsenses for a moment, and cogitate over millions of issues concerning to a billion-plus people nation that direly needs the basic amenities for citizens. Political masters, are you listening? Wake up now, and take action, lest the nation turns into a banana republic.