Mr. Brad Ballack, the senior
judge in the jury panel of Detroit High Court was in the ninth year of his
service. Whenever a case arrived, it would be him to emerge out as a crusader
and lead the remaining jury to a consensus. Ballack was stern and just. He
believed in the principle of "an eye for an eye”. He
was famous as BAD BALLACK among the others.
Ballack was looking in the case
of Bilal Ur Rehman, the accused terrorist. He was arraigned of planting a bomb
in the city, last year. Fifteen people had died and over fifty were injured.
The proceedings were moving towards the end. Ballack had made up his mind to
order "The Execution", but before that he decided to have a
glimpse of THETERRORIST one
last time.
The terrorist was a man in late
twenties; his beard had covered most of his face, amid the long hair and
the overgrown beard was his hazel eyes. Albeit the proceedings were at the end,
and the aftermath had to be his execution, he had been still as a statue. He
hadn’t uttered a single word in the overall process. Ballack was amused at his
grey existence.
“Do you want to say something in
your defense?”
The convict didn’t move a muscle.
Ballack reiterated his question, only this time with an elevated intensity.
Still, there wasn’t any effect. Ballack was amazed to witness the young
terrorist so keen to die, so dull, desperate to give his life away.
What was the terrorist thinking?
Why did he do it?
Why did he make his life so
contemptible?
Ballack returned from the mystic
tunnels of his mind, when suddenly “The Terrorist” started speaking. His voice
was weak, yet musical and calm…
“My family lived in Kansas. We
were happy in our small world. I had dreams. Didn’t I deserve it? I am an
American, why was I treated differently? Was it because my god wasn’t crucified
on a cross or rather he gave me a dark shade of color? After the attack of
9/11, my father went missing the next week. The whole society suddenly saw us
differently. What was our fault? Where were we wrong? I lost my father; my
family… was that right? Was it not the part of the killing? Why was it, that
there was no electricity and water in my house, when the whole avenue had it at
the same time?
The answers were given by none,
yet somehow there was everyone to as me questions…
Life all of a sudden was drained
of colors. I was alone. There wasn’t anyone to hold my hand. How could I
survive? With each day passing by, I was sucked out of life. I was forced to
leave my home and didn’t have a place to go.
I thought it was the end…
9/11 became 24x7 for me…
It was then when I met this group
“jihad”. It welcomed me with open hands. They gave me a purpose to live for.
They were people who cared about me. Suddenly, what I had thought to be the end
was turning out to be the beginning for me. I could see a silver lining. I
didn’t care about their intentions, when the world didn’t care about mine, that
part of me was assassinated somewhere in the past. As the days passed, I could
sense the rising of killer streak in my soul, I was becoming blood thirsty. God
had no mercy on me, why would I have it for others… The world wasn’t a plain
Jane, nor was I. It was the birth of a new Rehman from the ashes of the naïve
child, who was burnt away in the solitude of racism.”
Looking in to the eyes of Rehman,
Ballack was moved by the intensity of the pain present there. He was a judge,
yet a human. Inevitably he had developed a soft corner for “The
Terrorist”.Ballack remembered what he felt a few minutes back, and his feelings
now, he wanted to cry for the guy. He could see a innocent man beneath the
scary terrorist and he didn’t want to kill him now. Ballack was searching for
words when the janitor reminded him of the time. It was a choice between his
duty and his emotions.
He then decided finally, it was
time to give the verdict. It was time now to change places with Rehman, he
thought. He ordered for his execution and as the thud of the order died in the
silence, he could feel the rising of a KILLER in
himself...
He scribbled on the judgment
sheet and wrote in the remarks section:-
EXECUTION-22/1/2011
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