What would have Jinnah thought of Ajmal Kasab and gang, wonders SC - Times Of India
NEW DELHI: In the wanton spilling of blood and mindless destruction during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Pakistani terrorists had scant regard to places, including the iconic Taj Hotel, which were once close to the heart of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Mohd Ali Jinnah.
"One wonders what Quaid-e-Azam would have thought of the terrorist attack on his favourite city in the subcontinent and especially on Taj Mahal Hotel, which he had a personal relationship of a very intimate kind," the Supreme Court said in its judgment on Wednesday while upholding death penalty to the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
The bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad recalled, "At the Taj Mahal Hotel ballroom on February 20, 1918, at her 18th birthday party, Ruttie had accepted Jinnah's hand in marriage while the band was playing the Chopin tune 'So Deep is the Night'."
It is also reported that Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and Sarojini Naidu often held court at Taj Hotel, the court said in the judgment.
It went on to describe the special relationship Jinnah had with Mazgaon, where a bomb planted by the terrorists in a taxi killed three people and injured 19. "It is reported that Jinnah devoted Thursday afternoons to visiting the grave of his wife Ruttie at the Khoja Shiite Isna'ashri Cemetery situated at Mazgaon, Mumbai," said Justice Alam, who authored the judgment for the bench and dug into the archives to come across Jinnah's innate connection with Mumbai.
Describing the modus operandi of the terrorists in striking at luxury hotels Taj and Oberoi and Leopold Cafe, the court said the perpetrators knew that these were the places where the upper crust of the country got together with colleagues and peers from across the globe.
"The attack at these two hotels and the cafe had a dual purpose. First, the killing of wealthy and powerful Indians and foreigners would not only send shock waves across this country but would also attract international attention, which is the greatest prize and inducement for any terrorist group," the court said.
"Secondly, the terrorists hoped to take some 'very important people as hostages' there; this would, they believed, enable them to negotiate with the Indian authorities regarding some vague and fantastic demands," it added.
"The attack at Nariman House was intended to somehow involve Israel in the matter and to further internationalize the issue by killing Jewish and Israeli citizens living there. For a short while, the terrorists, who had taken possession of Nariman House, seemed to be succeeding in their objective as they were able to establish contact with someone called Levi in the US, who appears to have rushed in as the self-styled intermediary, negotiating to save the lived of the people taken hostage," the bench said.
NEW DELHI: In the wanton spilling of blood and mindless destruction during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Pakistani terrorists had scant regard to places, including the iconic Taj Hotel, which were once close to the heart of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Mohd Ali Jinnah.
"One wonders what Quaid-e-Azam would have thought of the terrorist attack on his favourite city in the subcontinent and especially on Taj Mahal Hotel, which he had a personal relationship of a very intimate kind," the Supreme Court said in its judgment on Wednesday while upholding death penalty to the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
The bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad recalled, "At the Taj Mahal Hotel ballroom on February 20, 1918, at her 18th birthday party, Ruttie had accepted Jinnah's hand in marriage while the band was playing the Chopin tune 'So Deep is the Night'."
It is also reported that Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and Sarojini Naidu often held court at Taj Hotel, the court said in the judgment.
It went on to describe the special relationship Jinnah had with Mazgaon, where a bomb planted by the terrorists in a taxi killed three people and injured 19. "It is reported that Jinnah devoted Thursday afternoons to visiting the grave of his wife Ruttie at the Khoja Shiite Isna'ashri Cemetery situated at Mazgaon, Mumbai," said Justice Alam, who authored the judgment for the bench and dug into the archives to come across Jinnah's innate connection with Mumbai.
Describing the modus operandi of the terrorists in striking at luxury hotels Taj and Oberoi and Leopold Cafe, the court said the perpetrators knew that these were the places where the upper crust of the country got together with colleagues and peers from across the globe.
"The attack at these two hotels and the cafe had a dual purpose. First, the killing of wealthy and powerful Indians and foreigners would not only send shock waves across this country but would also attract international attention, which is the greatest prize and inducement for any terrorist group," the court said.
"Secondly, the terrorists hoped to take some 'very important people as hostages' there; this would, they believed, enable them to negotiate with the Indian authorities regarding some vague and fantastic demands," it added.
"The attack at Nariman House was intended to somehow involve Israel in the matter and to further internationalize the issue by killing Jewish and Israeli citizens living there. For a short while, the terrorists, who had taken possession of Nariman House, seemed to be succeeding in their objective as they were able to establish contact with someone called Levi in the US, who appears to have rushed in as the self-styled intermediary, negotiating to save the lived of the people taken hostage," the bench said.
