In the middle of one of their most bitter political wrangles, the Congress and the BJP seem to have found an issue they could agree on.
That the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, should be executed without delay.
Soon after the Apex Court’s verdict was out, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that the government on its part will ensure that if Kasab files a mercy plea, it will be decided within minimum time.
He also added that Pakistan should take steps to punish the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack who have taken shelter in their country.
Even the contrarian voice in the Congress, Digvijay Singh reaffirmed Home Minister Shinde’s view that Kasab “should be given complete sentence quickly and punishment should be executed quickly”.
Putting across the BJP view, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Those who wage war against the country and kill innocent deserve no mercy.
Kasab should be hanged without any delay.
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no more leniency should be shown to this kind of a terrorist.
” Law Minister Salman Khurshid described the judgment as “inevitable” and rejected the suggestions that there could be more delay in the execution of the order.
But he also added that a country like India cannot indulge in street justice.
Earlier in the day, BJP leader Balbir Punj while welcoming the Supreme Court order had said that given the UPA government’s record in keeping mercy petitions pending “they may find some way to delay the execution” of Kasab’s sentence