The News Minute | March 21, 2015 | 11.20 am IST
Ajmal Kasab, captured on CCTV cameras wielding a gun shooting down bystanders was the lone attacker captured alive of the total ten men who stormed India during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Identified by Pakistan themselves as a citizen of their country, Kasab was charged with murder and waging war on India, an attack which killed 166 people.
In July 2009, Kasab admitted to the special court trying him that he was guilty of the attack. “Sir, I plead guilty to my crime.” - a statement that was the sealing sentence in a watertight case.
However, in August 2009, jail authorities complained to the court that Kasab reportedly refused the food they offered him, saying that he only wanted "mutton biryani".
Then Special Public Prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam had gone on to condemn Kasab’s behaviour.
Now, almost five years down the line, Nikam has admitted that the story of the mutton biryani was cooked up to put an end to the emotional wave building up for Kasab over the months.
"Kasab never demanded biryani and was never served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case," Nikam told the media during an international conference reported PTI.
"Media was minutely observing his body language and he was well aware of it. One day, in the court room, he bowed his head and wiped his eyes. Moments later, electronic media broke the news - tears in Kasab's eyes. It was Rakshabandhan that day, and panel discussions were started in the media on it. Some guessed Kasab got emotional in memory of his sister and some even went on to question whether he was a terrorist or not," Nikam said.
This was the time during which the court had been yet to decide on Kasab’s punishment. Soon after, Kasab told the court that he was ready to be hanged. He then went on to explain details about himself, the attack and his own background.
Though Kasab went on to retract his earlier statement, the court in May 2010 found him guilty of all 86 charges and was sentenced to death .
An open-and-shut case, the SPP’s admission to concocting a story on mutton biryani just to sway the public opinion against Kasab comes as a complete embarrassment.
If there was indeed a wave of emotion in favour of Kasab, does this give permission to a lawyer to stoop to any level to label a man who already faced a bleak future?