Is death penalty the solution?

I've been reading quite a lot of newspaper articles and blogs regarding the death penalty given to Kasab. The verdict initiated a lot of heated up discussions about capital punishment, people arguing both for and against it.

According to the government, Kasab will be hanged by the end of this year, provided, he doesn't challenge the verdict in the higher courts. But what if he does? He will spend years in the jail, and atlast, will be hanged if the verdict doesn't change.

What purpose do we serve by hanging Kasab? Will that send a message to the terrorist leaders, that we, Indians will react very strongly to such acts? I don't think so. Kasab, along with all his companions, was very much prepared to die, when he came to our country. When we hang Kasab, the terrorist masterminds will laugh at us, because, they all are still safe, to plan more attacks like this.

Kasab, doesn't represent the terrorists. He just represents the brainwashed and spoiled youth. He is a 22 year old, just like any of us. He was misdirected, and was used as a tool to implement the nefarious plans of someone else.

I salute all those who lost lives in the battle, but still, I strongly disagree with Karkare's wife's demand to make the execution public. Again, what's the use? When an arrow hits you, how do you take your revenge? By breaking the arrow, or by hitting the one who shot it at you?

Instead of hanging Kasab, we need to solve the huge conundrum of which, Kasab is a very small part of. We need to strengthen our police and intelligence forces in order to make sure that such incidents don't repeat. I still remember the television picture of policemen shooting at the terrorists at CST railway station, with their rifles, reloading after each shot. The terrorists, sprayed bullets back with AK 47 s.

And quite unfortunately, the pathetic situation hasn't changed much, even after the attack. The allocation of funds has taken place, but the huge corruption takes away a large chunk of the money. Now, even if the weapons are bought, policemen are not properly trained.

As far as we can't improve on all these, all we can do is to hang Kasab. Hang him, and hail the success of our fight against terror. Keep hailing, until the next attack happens!