Don't compare Apples to Oranges

There is an online signature campaign going on which calls for equitable punishment for Hindu rioters and Muslim terrorists. The verbiage of the petition is disgusting and can be considered a contempt of the Sovereign state of India.

For a fact based (as opposed to life stories based) analysis of the case under consideration, read this post by Offstumped.

Among the many dreadful things I learned from the analysis was the sad fate of a family of five, including a a specially abled girl, charred to death by miscreants.

Justice for all is a fine concept and we are all for it. What is puzzling is the apples to oranges comparison between rioters and terrorists. Riots are primitive, they happened plenty during the Mughal period as well. Terrorism is a very new invention, it is modern, it is far more dreadful in consequence.

What we should really call for is equal punishment for Hindu rioters and Muslim rioters and for Hindu terrorists and Muslim terrorists. Given that about a third or slightly more of the victims of riots were Hindus (in specific cases in Kerala etc. there have been different casualty patterns), it is imperative that the law seeks out and punishes Muslim rioters as well.

Now for the hard part. We had a dreadful attack on our own soil by Hindu terrorists, which resulted in the killing of a charming young Prime Minister. This eventually led to the capture of the culprits. Alas, their death sentence was commuted. Compare this to the death sentences being meted out to the Muslim terrorists. Gross perversion of justice if you ask me.

Of course if you were really a sucker for justice, you would follow the trail of Murugan Nalini & Co. real hard and who knows where you would get to? Would the end of the trail lead to a man wearing dark glasses?

We will never know.