Things That Bang

The movie Dark Knight is playing in the background as I write about my views on Ajmal Kasab and his pending fate.

The Joker in the movie had no love for humanity. He killed because he liked to. He had no good side to plead to but the common citizens of Gotham and the prisoners did- they did not push the button to blow up each other.

That happens to be the difference between us and them. Do I sound like George Bush? Maybe but there is a us and there is a them. The them are those who have lost their souls, who no longer believe in the sanctity of life and for whatever reasons ideological, religious or just for the love of it don't care about taking lives of the defenseless.

The Joker certainly didn't care, those who gave Kasab the gun and training didn't care and Kasab who sailed into our country in his designer clothes and gunned down people didn't care. But what makes Kasab different from the Joker? Unlike the Joker who in his madness had lost love for his own life Kasab turned out to be a coward. He squeals for compassion, for leniency and with his sweet words and with his good looks tries to needle his way into our civilian hearts.

We, like the innocent lambs of Gotham want to believe that Kasab has a human face. But it is a demonic front no different from the heinous smiling face of the Joker. Hand him a gun and chances that he would throw the gun aside, cower to a corner and call upon Allah are slim. In all likelihood he would shoot like any criminal from the Batman graphic novel to escape and spread his tyranny in whatever little form he can.

You see like any hardened murderers found in real life or even in violent graphic novels its in their blood. Like the Joker, Kasab is damaged goods and once that far gone peace means weakness to them. A trait that is used to exploit, to subjugate and to kill.

We don't have superheroes like Batman to save us from the baddies and the baddies unfortunately keep coming. It is the fight between good and evil, good and bad, the compassionate and the savage, it is eternal and long drawn. The fight, unfortunately, is us against them and we cannot put a human face to the Joker no matter how handsome or how sweet his laments may sound.

Kasab is what evil is all about and there is only one way to deal with evil - respond with righteous fury and just sentence.

Hang Kasab.