Mohammad Afzal Guru, also known as Afzal Guru, is a Kashmiri terrorist who was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006. Afzal was given a stay of execution and remains on death row.
Contents |
He belonged to Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.[1] He had completed the first year of his MBBS course and was pursuing for IAS exams. However later on he was involved in terrorist activities and became a member of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and subsequently went to Pakistan and received terrorist training and got involved into such terrorist activities. Unhappy with the situation there, he shifted back to India and surrendered before Border Security Force.[2] In a 2011 interview to Tehelka, he stated that his family had probably been Brahmins around seven centuries ago.[3]
In his confessional statement during the trial, he mentioned about joining JKLF, a militant outfit during the year 1989-90 and had received training in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in insurgent activities and coming back to India with arms. He then confessed about arriving in Delhi with his cousin Shaukat for studies, coming into contact with SAR Gilani while studying in Delhi University, surrendering before Border Security Force in 1993 on the advice of his family members, returning back to his native place Sopore and doing commission agency business, coming into contact with one Tariq of Anantanag at that time, who motivated him to join Jihad for liberation of Kashmir and assured him of financial assistance, Tariq introducing him to one Ghaziabad, Karachi who was a proclaimed offender in Kashmir who further exhorted him to join the movement and apprised him of the mission to carry out attacks on important institutions in India like Parliament and Embassies and asked him to find a safe hideout for the 'Fidayeens' in Delhi.
The attack was conducted jointly by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM). Seven members of the security forces, including a female constable, were killed, as were the five still incompletely identified men who carried out the attack.
Following were the charges against Afzal Guru as per the Chargesheet: The Charges against him included:[4]
He was arrested on December 12, 2001 along with Shaukat and later on explosives were found from their hideout in Delhi. Eighty witnesses were examined for the prosecution and ten were examined for defense. The judgment mentions:
On December 19, 2001 he made a confession of the offenses which was recorded and was signed by him. He also confirmed having made the confessional statement without any threat or pressure.[6]
He was convicted for the offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120B IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) & (5) of Section 1, 3(4), 4(b)of POTA and Sections 3 & 4 of Explosive Substances Act. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine.[7]
An appeal was made to the Delhi High Court but after going through the case and taking in consideration various authorities and precedents, the Court found that the conviction of Afzal Guru was safe and hence his appeal was dismissed.[8]
There is an appeal to issue clemency to Afzal from various human rights groups including political groups in Kashmir, who believe that Afzal Guru did not receive a fair trial and was subject to a frame up of corrupt and inefficient police work. Human rights activists in various parts of India and the world have demanded reprieve as they believe that the trial was flawed. Arundhati Roy and Praful Bidwai castigated the trial and argued that Afzal has been denied natural justice.[9][10] Accusations of human rights violations have been made by many.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Indian National Congress and local political groups voiced their support of clemency for Afzal. It is alleged many have done so to appease Muslim voters in India.[11]
Communist Party of India (Marxist) is critical of both the Congress, who is delaying the legal procedure in the case as well as BJP who tries to whip up enmity between communities in the name of a crime done by a group of criminals. The party wants the law of the land to take its course without any interference.[12]
Ram Jethmalani holds that it is completely within the President's power to commute the Death sentence and is not a mercy plea. He says, "It’s a misnomer to call it a mercy petition. It leads to total misunderstanding of the constitutional power. The constitutional power is that the President has the power to disagree with the Supreme Court both with its findings of fact and law."[13]
But others are of the view that such a sweeping Constitutional power cannot be given to the President inasmuch as it would subvert the concept of justice enshrined in the Constitution.
The Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party president and MP, Mehbooba Mufti commented that the Centre should pardon Afzal if Pakistan accepted the clemency appeal for Sarabjit Singh.[14]
Ms. Mufti, said that if clemency appeals were made for Sarabjit citing his Indian nationality, voices should also be raised for Afzal for "he too is an Indian citizen". "Two citizens of India cannot be treated with different yardsticks" she had said.
However, the All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta has urged the President of India not to accept any clemency pleas on Afzal's behalf. He warned that his organisation would launch agitations if Afzal was pardoned. He also criticised statements of various political leaders and blamed them for "encouraging activities of militants in Jammu and Kashmir".[15]
An India Today poll in late October showed that 78% of Indians supported the death penalty for Afzal[11]
On 12 November 2006, the former Deputy Prime Minister of India, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani criticized the delay in carrying out the death sentence on Guru for the Parliament terror attack, saying, "I fail to understand the delay. They have increased my security. But what needs to be done immediately is to carry out the court's orders".
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has severely criticized Arundhati Roy. BJP spokespoerson Prakash Javadekar said:
"Those who are supporting Afzal by demanding that he should not be hanged are not only acting against public sentiment in the country but are giving a fillip to terrorist morale," [16]
On 23rd of June 2010, the Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended the President's office to reject the mercy petition.
On the 7th of January 2011, a whisleblowing site indianleaks.in has leaked a document which states that the mercy petition file is not with President of India.[17] This was confirmed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi on 23 Feb 2011.[18]
On the 10th of August 2011 the home ministry of India rejected the mercy petition and sent a letter to the President of India recommending the death penalty .[19]
Posted on Sep 07, 2011 at 02:42pm IST, HuJI claims responsibility for Delhi HC blast at the Delhi High Court in which 10 people have been killed and 65 others injured. HuJI in an e-mail sent to a media house claimed that the blast was carried out in retaliation to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's death sentence.
"We owe the responsibility of todays blasts at high court delhi..... our demand is that Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major high courts & THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA," the e-mail read.