Ajmal Kasab hanging: Thank you Pranab Mukherjee, say victims

Ragini Sharma, whose husband S K Sharma was killed in the 2008 terror strike, said she would like to thank the President for rejecting Kasab's mercy plea.

"I would like to thank the President. However, it got delayed but we did get justice. I am happy that it (the hanging) was done secretly, otherwide some human rights people would have opposed it," she said.

Vishnu Zende, an announcer at the Chhtrapati Shivaji Terminus, the railway station here which was one of the targets of the attack, said, "I had never thought that I would get to hear this news like this.

"I am very happy that he has been hanged. All the people who died in the terror attack have been given tribute by hanging him," Zende, who had helped save many lives by making announcements over the public address system in the station about the strike, said.

Mukesh Agrawal, who survived when the Taj Hotel in Mumbai was attacked during the 2008 carnage, said Kasab should have been hanged four years ago.

"But today what has happened is very good. It is a very good gift to the victims' families. The government has given a New Year gift," he said.

K Unnikrishnan, father of NSG commando K Unnikrishnan, who was killed in the Taj Hotel strike, said, "The way in which the execution has been done, it is a model way.

"Before anybody could react to the rejection of the mercy petition (of Kasab), everything is over. That is the thing which I cherish."

Unnikrishnan, a retired ISRO official, said, "Definitely there was a long way to go for the sense of closure...Kasab's execution is only one chapter. The perpetrators are still moving around in Pakistan and the anti-India thinking in Pakistan is too much now, it should come down."

He said finally justice has been done in one case.

"...The root cause is hatred that is still there and in my opinion that spoils the general calm attitude in India. I still feel many more things have to be done. We should not lose the momentum because we have hanged a culprit. That is not closure," Unnikrishnan said.

Constable Arun Jadhav was in the ill fated Qualis in which Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar got killed

"I couldn't believe it when I heard it but I was all over television. Slowly, it sinked in that the man who had killed some men I respected the most had been hanged. I can't think of a more fitting tribute to the men I was unable to save."

Tukaram Omble's uncle Eknath

"There can not be a word to describe the happiness I feel today. I have dreamt of this day for the last four years. Terrorists should be dealt with strongly. Enemies of humanity do not deserve to be treated like human beings. Not only Tukaram, but all the martyrs of the nightmare attack have been paid a tribute today"

Kasab's hanging homage to my husband: Smita Salaskar

Smita Salaskar, wife of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar who fell victim to the bullets of terrorists during the Mumbai carnage, today described the hanging of Ajmal Kasab as a "homage" to her husband.

"Though the execution was delayed, Kasab was finally hanged. With this hanging, homage has been paid to my husband. But the real homage will be the conviction of other accused shielded in Pakistan," Smita said.

Thanking President Pranab Mukherjee for rejecting the mercy plea of the Pakistani gunman, Smita said, "Late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had also demanded Kasab's hanging. His wish and our wish have been finally fulfilled."

"The entire family is happy to hear the news that Kasab was hanged, ahead of fourth anniversary of the attack," Smita said.

The hanging would surely send a message across the globe that India would not tolerate any terror attack, Smita said, adding, "I hope death sentence of Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru would also be executed soon."