India Insight

Suddenly, everyone in India is talking about executions.

Grim hangings are a topic of animated conversation at water coolers, cocktail parties and chat shows. Everyone seems to favour them, the quicker the better.

Just weeks ago, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani gunman convicted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was sentenced to death by hanging.

Everywhere in Mumbai, where 166 people were gunned down by Kasab and his accomplices, people cheered and fought to express their joy to newspapers and TV channels.

But Kasab, who has the right to appeal his sentence at a higher court, is in queue. Ahead of him is Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

Guru had filed a mercy petition, which is doing the rounds between ministries in Delhi.

In what is being seen as a significant judgement, India’s apex court recently dismissed all charges against south Indian actress Khushboo for her alleged remarks on pre-marital sex in a 2005 magazine interview.

The Supreme Court said her comments were her personal view and that she was entitled to express them.

Many in the country believe the verdict heralds a welcome but a difficult and slow change. Nevertheless, it reinforces our claim to democracy, secularism and above all freedom of speech and expression, of course with its riders.

Pinky Anand, counsel for actress Khushboo in the Supreme Court, spoke to Reuters about the case and how the verdict would have a far-reaching impact.

The Congress-led government, under scrutiny in the wake of allegations of financial irregularities in a multi-billion cricketing tournament, has now come under fire from the opposition over accusations it tapped phones of senior leaders.

A united opposition demanded a joint parliamentary committee to look into these allegations, ruled out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is in Bhutan attending a summit of South Asian leaders.

Last week, a magazine report said mobile phone conversations of senior politicians were tapped, sparking allegations intelligence agencies were being used to spy on political rivals.