Author: Barney Henderson & Rachna Pratihar
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: December 20, 2008
Drop the brief or leave the community.
That's the stark'warning the Bombay Parsi
Punchayet (BPP) has given K.B.N. Lam, a Parsi advocate who hopes to represent
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terror suspect arrested for the 26/11 attacks.
Lam moved an application in a session's court
on Monday stating his desire to represent Kasab.
His home in Breach Candy was vandalised on Wednesday morning. At least two
other lawyers have offered to represent Kasab, one of whom did a turn around.
BPP spokesman Godrej Dotivala said the Punchayet
would hold no grudge against Lam if he did not take the brief, but the lawyer
would be ostracised from the community if he went ahead.
"The chairman and trustees emphatically
state that the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community wishes to totally disassociate
itself from barrister K.B.N. Lam who intends to take up the brief of the arrested
Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab," a BPP statement said.
"Further, the BPP unequivocally denounces,
deprecates and disapproves the proposed action of Mr Lam and hopes that better
sense will prevail and he will desist from any proposed action on his part."
Lam, however, said that he would not withdraw the case despite the pressure
against him.
"I want to defend him (Kasab) so that
the case can go ahead," he said. "I do not know whether I will be
appointed or not but I will definitely not withdraw my application even though
a number of people have suggested that I do so." Lam, who reportedly
said he was not afraid of the Shiv Sena in a television interview, alleged
that the Sena was behind the attack at his residence. "Such people who
act like fanatics are not less than terrorists themselves."
Lam said the public did not seem to think
rationally. "The public or the police cannot decided whether a person
is guilty or not," he said. "It is only in the court of law that
such a decision is taken."
- barney.henderson@hindustantimes.com
