On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, K Unnikrishnan was seated on a sofa at his residence in a room decked with photographs of his 31-year-old son Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who lost his life battling terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attack four years ago.
Visibly calm and composed, he was surrounded by a handful of cameras waiting to capture his reaction to the news of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s covert hanging.
“His (Kasab) hanging is justice done” for civilians who lost their lives on the night of 26/11, he said.
“I won’t say the same for my son and other security personnel.
They were just performing their duties.
” Unnikrishnan, a former officer at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said he has no qualms about the country’s legal system.
“Still,” he said, “the hanging could have been done two years ago.
” Already late for lunch, with Sandeep’s mother Dhanalakshmi waiting, Unnikrishnan spent a few more minutes to express what he felt on the occasion.
Unnikrishnan remembered some of his interactions with his son after he joined the Indian Army 10 years ago.
“It was his personal choice to join the armed forces.
I have asked him several times why we need to spend crores on defence when the same money can be spent on education and health.”