A headline in The Indian Express reads Human rights? ‘Terrorists are animals, we need animal rights’

“We speak of upholding human rights. What we are worried is the violation of the rights of terrorists, the people who kill innocent people with AK-47 and AK-56 on streets,” said Indian Supreme Court Justice Arijit Pasayat to reporters.

“He (a terrorist) is not fit to be called a human. He is an animal so what is required is animal rights.”

Justice Pasayat was referring to Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only surviving gunman involved in the 11/26 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Kasab’s unmasked face, caught on video, has come to embody international terrorism in India. Given the enormity of the crime and with his guilt beyond question, Kasab’s capture and pending trial have pushed many Indians to ask if he is entitled to any rights at all.

Though Kasab reportedly confessed his involvement in the Mumbai attacks while in custody, police confessions aren’t admissible in Indian courts and should he plead not guilty, the constitution guarantees him the right to council and a fair trial.

However because of public outrage over the attacks there have been repeated calls to forgo any trial and hang his body from the India Gate in Mumbai, an execution that would both punish Kasab and set an example as to how India deals with international terrorism.

Indian lawyers that initially offered to defend Kasab in court have been threatened and attacked by members of Shiv Sena, a right wing Hindu nationalist group, and intimidated into rescinding their services.

Several of India’s largest lawyer groups, including the Mumbai Bar Association, have passed resolutions prohibiting their members from representing Kasab and at least one Muslim group, The All India Milli Council, an orthodox committee from Goa, agree with Siv Sena head Bal Thackeray’s call for immediate execution without trial.

Even Kasab’s state appointed defense lawyer refused to appear in court for his remand hearing.

In a legal sense, Kasab has become untouchable.

What makes his case so different from past high profile attacks? Mahatma Gandhi’s killer received a fair trial. So did Indira Gandhi’s assassin. Kasab is reportedly Pakistani—Islamabad denies it—but the constitution guarantees legal rights to non-Indians.

Indian Chief Justice, KG Balakrishnan has stated that Kasab is entitled to a fair trial and editorials and columnists from some of India’s biggest papers as well as human rights groups have argued for Kasab’s right to council in the interests of transparency and shielding India’s constitution against public sentiment.

There is a widely published picture of Kasab lying prone in the hospital after his capture by police. The “boy monster” looks less like a terrorist and more like a student involved in an unfortunate accident.

What led him to wreak havoc on Mumbai streets last November, ripping lives apart and upsetting a delicate treaty between India and Pakistan?

A fair trial may provide some answers to victims as well as an India that’s currently debating how to deal with neighboring Pakistan, convinced that Islamabad was involved in the attack.

Though India has appointed a trial judge, no trial date has been set. – Mark Schurmann