Each time Vaishali Tukaram Omble comes across news of Ajmal Amir Kasab smiling or laughing in court, and once even demanding biryani, she wonders why the man responsible for killing so many people on the night of November 26 last year is still alive.
“Kasab should have been shot dead in the same manner as he killed innocent people and my father. Unfortunately, that is not there in our law. At least, he should be hanged and the media should cover it live,” Vaishali, boiling with anger, says in an interview to The New Indian Express. Last year, Vaishali and the other Ombles were one happy family, going out for lunch or often playing a game of carrom whenever Tukaram Omble was not on duty.
This time, the family is making arrangements to observe the first death anniversary of the 26/11 hero, who enabled Kasab’s capture, taking a volley of bullets after he held on to the barrel of Kasab’s AK-47.
Vaishali, who says she never followed news related to terrorism or happenings within Pakistan till her father died, now makes it a point to keep newspaper clippings about Kasab and developments in Pakistan with regard to the trial there.
“Har din naya natak karta hai, Kasab. Mai bolti, ek saal hone ko aaya, abhi tak kuch nai hua. Woh raja hai kya? The money the government is spending on Kasab’s security, should be spent on strengthening the police department,” she says sitting next to the photograph of her late father, in her house in Worli. Vaishali, who has completed her B Ed, says she wants to see Kasab hanged publicly. “If only papa had a weapon, Kasab would have been killed then and there,” she says.
But Vaishali has more reasons to be angry. “That morning, (November 27), we just got a call saying papa was admitted in hospital. Later, we were told he was no more. Initially, some officials told us that he suffered only one bullet injury. It was only eight days later that we came to know papa had suffered several bullet wounds as he caught hold of Kasab’s weapon and was instrumental in his arrest. But now I read and hear that other police officials are taking credit for the work done by my father. I really get angry. In log ko sharam nahi aati,” she says angrily.
Vaishali says it is such petty politics that makes most policemen think twice before doing their job. “After such a sacrifice, papa has not got the due credit. Now that he is no more other officials are taking credit for catching Kasab. I am not going to keep quiet,” says a determined Vaishali. She says at one function held for those who laid down their lives, her father‘s name was not even mentioned while others who were just present were felicitated.
Recalling the fateful night, Vaishali notes she and other family members were in touch with him constantly. “We were calling him every half-hour and he only said everything was fine. The last call we made was at 12.30 am, and he asked us to sleep as my sister and I had to attend school and college. He asked us not to call.”
Around 7 am the next day, they got a call saying Tukaram had been admitted to hospital. Then came the news of his death. “All of us feel he is alive and with us. At no time in the last one year did we feel that he is no more,” says Vaishali.
On whether she would meet Kasab if given a chance, Vaishali’s reply is powerful. “Is he a human being?” she asks. “He sprayed bullets on innocents. But what upsets me is that he is alive and does all sorts of tamasha in the court while the government simply watches it.”
— vikramsharma@expressbuzz.com
