Two significant court verdicts on a single day in India gave millions of people reason to look back and ponder at the meaningless violence taking place every day. In a country where the judiciary is often criticised for the inordinate delay it takes to bring a case to closure, the verdicts showed that in the end, truth indeed triumphs. In one of the cases,the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Ajmal Kasab for his role in the killing of 166 people during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. In the other, a former state minister was among 32 people found guilty in the massacre of 97 in 2002. This was the first time that a former minister was being convicted in the Gujarat riots case.
Though both cases revolve around violence, there are differences between the two. In the Kasab case, a misguided, brainwashed young terrorist mowed down innocents in an act that defied explanation. In the other, a mob led by those responsible for governance led a riot in order to take revenge for the killing of pilgrims on a train. But both instances show that with a little bit of instigation, humankind can be turned into murderous monsters.
The courts have done their job patiently over the past few years and the verdicts have been pronounced. While the country now waits to see if Kasab will seek clemency from the president, it is also time to move on, and let the scars of the riots heal.
