The bigger judgment

The end of the tortuous and torturous Mumbai blasts case is in sight; over the next few days and weeks the fate of the 123 men and women who stand accused of involvement in one of India8217;s largest terrorist attacks on home soil will be known. It will hopefully bring a sense of closure to the hundreds involved 8212; the victims8217; families, the legal community, even the innocent among the accused who can finally get on with life, free of the cloud that has hung over their heads all these years. The statistics are staggering but the one that stands out is the 13 years it has taken to reach judgment day. This, for a case that was effectively cracked within a few days, stands as testament to how the legal system can let us down.

Yet there is good news, too, and it comes from 300 km northeast of Mumbai: from Malegaon, where last week8217;s bomb blasts did not precipitate the widely feared riots. On the contrary, Friday8217;s attacks saw the town8217;s two main communities reach out to each other, confounding those who 8212; on the evidence of history and ground realities 8212; had predicted a terrible fallout. The prevailing peace, almost in consonance with the Mahatma8217;s century-old teaching on non-violence, also no doubt confounded those behind the blasts who had banked on a very different reaction while choosing Malegaon as a killing field.

Indeed, a closer examination of recent history shows that Malegaon is only the latest instance in a heartening trend we too often overlook. The past few years have seen a spate of terrorist attacks 8212; in Akshardham, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Varanasi, each location chosen carefully bearing in mind the potential for knock-on damage 8212; yet none has been followed by the sort of rioting that was all too common a decade ago. In each case the tragedy of lives lost has been ameliorated, even if in part by the maturity of public reaction. And that, perhaps more than any judgment from the courts, is the strongest message we can send out to those who seek to harm us: go ahead, try your best, but this country will stay together.