I am writing this letter as someone with an emotional connection to the great city of Mumbai and has immense concerns for it.
This letter needs to be written because Mumbai is the identity of more than 1.8 crore people. This is not just a personal letter in that sense.
It was extremely frustrating on Thursday to know that Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court Judge Pramod Kode put off the much-awaited verdict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case to September 12. That act of terror killed 257 people.
This letter is a helpless person's humble way of expressing her protest over delayed justice.
I request your esteemed office to take note that the more than 1.8 crore people of Mumbai deserved quicker justice in this matter which has political and other undertones.
I understand well that you need not take into account those underlying currents while dispensing justice, but the people who seek justice -- accused and victims alike -- live in society and we can't but face communal and political pressures.
I have not an iota of doubt that the honourable Judge Kode has taken the decision in the best interests of the case and in accordance with the law of the land, but while waiting for the judgment, standing outside the court premises at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, one felt hugely let down.
When I heard that the judgment would now be delivered on September 12, I felt it was a cruel joke on the people of Mumbai. I have lost the patience to bear even a moment's delay in this case.
The slow-moving legal system is making a mockery of the victims' pain and our commitment to the Indian system.
It is time, we plead with you, to take corrective measures of a permanent nature in delivering speedy justice in certain cases. Whatever measures have been taken so far are not working and it is time your esteemed self did something about this.
We don't want to see fresh cases go the way of the bomb blasts of 1993.
While writing to you I have in mind the expectations of those who were traumatised on that fateful day of March 12, 1993.
Why is it that my nation and all the wings of Indian democracy are not ready to stand up even after 13 long years?
Is there no provision in law which can empower you to issue directives taking note of the urgency among the people of India for faster justice in the bomb blasts case and in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi case?
I think things have come this far because Mumbaikars have the lowest value attached to them. The saga of their resilience is taken too far and their survival instinct has become an impediment in getting the quick justice they deserve.
Just because the amazingly cosmopolitan Mumbai is strong enough to neutralise any jerks and jolts of terror, does it mean we can altogether do without justice? It is not comfortable to tell fellow Indians that let us not fight over the issue till the verdict in certain cases is delivered.
Because we have patience for justice, because we have imbibed the intrinsic values of democracy, we go to work the day after the deadly bomb blasts killed 257 people. But we want justice, and the nation, particularly New Delhi, should be reminded that we want faster justice.
More blasts took place in Mumbai on July 11, 2006. A month later we are absolutely clueless about the conspirators.
We feel helpless that the smugness of the Indian system is making the hidden terrorists more energetic.
My Lord, the people with the power to change, the people with the Executive under their control, the people with the capacity to change the way things are going should see that the world has changed. The old Indian patience will not last in this very religious and largely superstitious society.
Will someone tell us why the Judiciary, Executive and political organs of the Indian nation do not have the resolve to take a final decision in a sensitive issue concerning the people?
Why have we lost the resolve to solve complex political and legal problems?
Why can't the best legal and political brains of India end the people's wait for justice on at least a few issues which are so fundamental for us?
The world has changed. India has become a centre of global attention, but the Indian justice delivery system can do without any mega changes. Why?
Three years ago, the trial concluded in the 1993 bomb blasts case but the TADA court is unable to deliver a judgment even today, for whatever reasons, justified as they are.
My Lord, you need to put the brain and heart of the Indian judicial system to work. Please let us know why we have to wait for 13 years to know about the punishment to the terrorists who have robbed our city of innocence.
We want justice because the Internet has brought other democracies closer to us.
We know how a terrorist drove an explosive-laden truck into the World Trade Centre, New York, in February 1993 and how the case was investigated. How the trial took place and how justice was done. Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life for the terrorist act in 1998.
The Mumbai blasts occurred just a month after Yousef's act of terror, but we are still waiting outside the Arthur Road jail to know who tried to kill the spirit of Mumbai.
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Sheela Bhatt
