Who needs more security -- Ajmal Kasab or Mumbai?

Don’t think that 26/11 is just a number. It was Mumbai’s date with devastation, a grim reminder of the mindless killing of innocent people, including foreign tourists, by a group of terrorists on the night of November 26, 2008. The audacious attacks on India’s financial hub had left over 160 people dead and scores injured.

Three years have been passed ever since that fateful night. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone 26/11 terrorist caught alive, had been handed over death penalty by a special anti-terror court on May 6, 2010. The Bombay High Court later upheld the decision saying, “There is no scope of reform or rehabilitation of the convicted accused. It is a rarest of rare case and the court cannot be more confident than it is today that death penalty must be given.” However, Kasab appealed against the death penalty, which is pending before the Supreme Court.

If earlier cases are any indication, the judicial process will certainly take years to send Kasab to the gallows. But for now, he is making merry in the jail.

According to reports, the state government has already spent a whopping Rs50 crore to keep the 24-year-old terrorist from Pakistan safe and secure in the prison. A special cell had been constructed inside the high-security Arthur Road jail for Kasab. The cell was designed in such a way that even if a truck laden with explosives were to ram into it, the cell would not be dented. Another special cell was also made in the prison ward of JJ Hospital.

But the big question is why the government is spending so much on a terrorist? And the safety is for whom, the man who jeopardised the safety of millions of Mumbaikars. The government wants to keep Kasab alive only to expose Pakistan as he is the last link to Islamabad’s role in the 26/11 carnage. It is widely known that Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists. And you don’t need to spend so much on Kasab to tell the world just that.

Instead of paying so much attention to Kasab’s security, the government must have concentrated on enhancing security at crucial points across Mumbai, which are vulnerable to 26/11-like strikes. The case in point is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), where Kasab and his aide sprayed bullets on people killing more than 50 and injuring hundreds. Soon after the attack, CST and other important installations across Mumbai that were targeted by the terrorists virtually turned into fortresses. But as the time passed, things returned to usual. The security measures are still not up to the mark.

The promised multi-crore Integrated Security System (ISS) for major stations like CST is still on papers. The Central Railway had drawn up a Rs27.5 crore shopping list for buying hi-tech security equipment, including night-vision cameras, internet-based security surveillance and vapour detectors, to protect commuters on Mumbai’s suburban railway system.

To this, Anil Sharma, chief security commissioner of the CR, had said: “The ISS is in tendering process and soon it will be in place.”

But how long will it take? Are the authorities waiting for another 26/11 to happen?

Likewise, the Indian coast guard had distributed free Distress Alert Transmission System (DATS) to fishermen across the state with the aim of making them their eyes and ears at sea. The 26/11 terrorists had taken the sea route to reach Mumbai. But in the absence of a decisive provision for the DATS’ maintenance and accountability in the event of their loss or sale to other fishermen, the plan has virtually been thrown in choppy waters. In case if terrorists hijack a fisherman’s boat as they did in 2008, they may give a false alarm through the DATS and distract security agencies.

It is high time that the administration put their act together to prevent another 26-like mayhem. Otherwise, 26/11 will be reduced to just a date in the calendar with symbolic anniversary functions and wreath laying ceremonies.