A lawyer from Kashmir who fights cases for most Pakistani and Afghan militants arrested in Kashmir has offered to represent 26/11 terror accused Ajmal Amir Kasab “if security is guaranteed”.

“We are ready to fight for him not because he is Pakistani or a Muslim. It is our legal duty,” Advocate Shafaqat Mir told The Indian Express, adding that several members of the Kashmir Bar Association were ready to offer their services for the same. “We are ready to volunteer to defend Kasab if the situation is made conducive for us.”

Mir’s offer has come after the lawyer appointed by the special court in Kasab’s case, Anjali Waghmare, was removed of the job on Wednesday. Waghmare had been appointed after the Bombay Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court Bar Association adopted a resolution that none of its members would defend or represent any offender involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Incidentally, the J-K High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA) had taken a similar stand when it had decided not to defend the accused in the Srinagar sex abuse scandal in 2006. Mir admitted they had made a mistake then, but added: “The case was shifted to Chandigarh... This time again, it is a similar situation, but the case is not being shifted. This is discrimination.”

JKHCBA President Mian Abdul Qayoom called the Mumbai assocation’s refusal to defend Kasab “legal misconduct”.