Finally!!Afzal Guru,accused and convicted to be hanged in the Parliament Attack case, has submitted an appeal for getting pardon to the President of India..
And the Indian Government is sitting on it prettily..waiting for another Kandahar to happen it looks like..
Afzal Guru, an ex-militant from the faction JKLF,which has given up arms now and has entered local politics in Kashmir.They don't have the mass following whcih PDP,Congress or National Conference enjoy..But they do carry considerable political clout with the Indian Union Government as one of the prominent groups which have given up arms and are not exactly Pro-Pakistan like the Hurriyat..
The present day lives of most of these ex-militants make for an interesting read..
As far as I have read,the reports suggest that they are under constant supervision of the State intelligence agencies,since there is zero trust level associated with them..and quite naturally too..
There are some interesting questions which come to my mind when I read the various accounts of all parties concerned..
Afzal too, was under constant supervision of the JK Special Task Force until he came to Delhi with the terrorsits who carried out the actual attack.How then, did he manage to cohort with the attackers who came from Pakistan under the watchful survelliance of the STF?
His wife has made some sensatinoal allegations against the STF personnel...Now what we can't be sure of is whether those allegations carry any shred of truth..or are they an attempt to cash in on the widespread discontent and mistrust, the local Kashmiri junta has against the STF and the Army in general..I think this is a strategic die played by them..Muddle the water and raise doubts..Actually,there is enough cause for concern over here..
Afzal's role in the conspiracy in providing logistical support to the terrorsits from across the border has been well documented in the Courts.This is the chief charge on which he's been convicted.
However,one cursory look at his statement in the lower courts is enuf to deduce that Afzal knew much more than he revealed in the court..Some of his answers to questions put forth by the Prrosecution are amusingly trite and laughable..One is actually reminded of the typical court room scenes from a Mithun/Jackie starrer 80s-90s ka Bollywood movie..!!
However the same prosecution failed to get convicted Dr.Geelani, a lecturer from Delhi Univ who was also implicated by the investigating agencies for planning the logistical details.
In fact,his role was considerably greater than Afzal's..
How come then Geelani was sentenced to death by the lower court,But let off scot free later on by high court and SC too?
Why did the police and intelligence agencies fail in getting Geelani convicted?
Was this trial a mere face saving excercise for them and Geelani a scapegoat??
What about Afzal in tht case?Was he a scapegoat too by the same logic?
If that is not the case,then why is Mr.Geelani a free man today and one of the loudest vioces for seeking Afzal Guru's clemency??
The actual masterminds who planned the attack are still safe sitting in their cosy abodes in Pakistan courtesy of the Islamabad govt..wht is the Indian govt doing to bring them to justice?
Some of the Communist parties are at the forefront today in voicing their support to the clemency plea of Guru..
We also have the neo-liberals and pacifists who want to abolish Capital-punishment,extending their support to Afzal..People like Jug Suraiya (Sunday TOI Columnist) is a case in point..
I wont talk abt Ms.Arundhati Roy over here..
(Somebody,told me once she was a writer-activist..but I disagree vehemently..
After all,there is something called as the 'Second Novel',if one claims to be a writer first!!)
This is not the case to debate whether Capital-Punishment shud be abolished in India!!
Terrorists are terrorists..they have no regard for human life at all..How can the rules and regulations of a civil society be applied to them,when they don't want to be part of it but follow the jungle law saying:"My way --the Only way!"???
When we had to release JEM cheif in exchange for the passengers of IA flight during the Kandahar fiasco,where were these pacifists and liberalists?Or for that matter,what shud have been the course of action according to these ppl,if say Indian security guards had failed to stop the attackers in time and they had blowed up the parliament??
If they were caught alive after that,shud we still have given them life imprisonment??Making a martyr out of them,giving more ammunition to the Jehadis??And then what next??Another Plane hijacking or some such method employed by the Jehadis to achieve the release of the prisoners?? What do these activists think??By giving the terrorists a life sentence,we are proudly claiming ourselves to be better than the Jehadis??we are not stooping to their level???
They feel we as a part of the civilised society,shud not exact the right to take away a human life legally.
That is barbaric according to them..
Hello!!What abt the cost incurred by the state in the whole process??Jails are for those who can be reformed(atleast that's the benevolent purpose for which jails exist on paper!!)
Why shud the exchequer like me pay for supporting the State in keeping these convicts hale and hearty in the Indian jails??Why shud we always be under a threat like yesterday's alert at all Airports across South India,where in there was a chance that some plane might be hijacked to rescue Afzal Guru??
If a person has been proven guilty of aiding,abetting or committing a grave terrorist act,by a fair and just trial in the lower courts,the High court and the Supreme court too,I don't find any reason to risk the lives of more Indian citizens by keeping him or her alive ..
The key words here however being the accused getting a fair and just trial!!
We all know how well documented the reports of State atrocities on innocent citizens are in areas like the North-East and for that matter even in Kashmir in the early days..
The Naxal infested parts of Central India too are no strangers to police atrocities..That's why one has to be careful..And in cases like that of Afzal,one must surely be doubly careful that no innocent has been made a scapegoat by the authorities in order to save their face in front of the public.
What I think here is Afzal's past has come back to haunt him now..Its quite unlikely that he did not know of the machinations of Mohammad and other perpetuators of the actual attack..After all he was also present when the Car for the suicide bombing was bought in Delhi...
He might have been forced to do their bidding..But the Benefit of doubt does not go to him over here..
One point raised by the group opposed to his clemency is that why are the Afzal suporters crying foul about an unfair trial now when he was awarded the verdict by the SC..why didn't they raise an alarm when and if there was actually a miscarraige of justice as they say,in the lower courts???Where were these human rights activists back then??
The terrorists who were charged with carrying out the actual attack were killed in encounter by security guards on that fateful day..
But for the timely action of constable Kamlesh Kumari,Ashok Chakra awardee(posthumous) there wud have been a major disaster..
Are we really doing justice to her brilliant sacrifice by making a farce out of this trial??
I don't think so..
P.S : http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-question-of-reasonable-doubt
And the Indian Government is sitting on it prettily..waiting for another Kandahar to happen it looks like..
Afzal Guru, an ex-militant from the faction JKLF,which has given up arms now and has entered local politics in Kashmir.They don't have the mass following whcih PDP,Congress or National Conference enjoy..But they do carry considerable political clout with the Indian Union Government as one of the prominent groups which have given up arms and are not exactly Pro-Pakistan like the Hurriyat..
The present day lives of most of these ex-militants make for an interesting read..
As far as I have read,the reports suggest that they are under constant supervision of the State intelligence agencies,since there is zero trust level associated with them..and quite naturally too..
There are some interesting questions which come to my mind when I read the various accounts of all parties concerned..
Afzal too, was under constant supervision of the JK Special Task Force until he came to Delhi with the terrorsits who carried out the actual attack.How then, did he manage to cohort with the attackers who came from Pakistan under the watchful survelliance of the STF?
His wife has made some sensatinoal allegations against the STF personnel...Now what we can't be sure of is whether those allegations carry any shred of truth..or are they an attempt to cash in on the widespread discontent and mistrust, the local Kashmiri junta has against the STF and the Army in general..I think this is a strategic die played by them..Muddle the water and raise doubts..Actually,there is enough cause for concern over here..
Afzal's role in the conspiracy in providing logistical support to the terrorsits from across the border has been well documented in the Courts.This is the chief charge on which he's been convicted.
However,one cursory look at his statement in the lower courts is enuf to deduce that Afzal knew much more than he revealed in the court..Some of his answers to questions put forth by the Prrosecution are amusingly trite and laughable..One is actually reminded of the typical court room scenes from a Mithun/Jackie starrer 80s-90s ka Bollywood movie..!!
However the same prosecution failed to get convicted Dr.Geelani, a lecturer from Delhi Univ who was also implicated by the investigating agencies for planning the logistical details.
In fact,his role was considerably greater than Afzal's..
How come then Geelani was sentenced to death by the lower court,But let off scot free later on by high court and SC too?
Why did the police and intelligence agencies fail in getting Geelani convicted?
Was this trial a mere face saving excercise for them and Geelani a scapegoat??
What about Afzal in tht case?Was he a scapegoat too by the same logic?
If that is not the case,then why is Mr.Geelani a free man today and one of the loudest vioces for seeking Afzal Guru's clemency??
The actual masterminds who planned the attack are still safe sitting in their cosy abodes in Pakistan courtesy of the Islamabad govt..wht is the Indian govt doing to bring them to justice?
Some of the Communist parties are at the forefront today in voicing their support to the clemency plea of Guru..
We also have the neo-liberals and pacifists who want to abolish Capital-punishment,extending their support to Afzal..People like Jug Suraiya (Sunday TOI Columnist) is a case in point..
I wont talk abt Ms.Arundhati Roy over here..
(Somebody,told me once she was a writer-activist..but I disagree vehemently..
After all,there is something called as the 'Second Novel',if one claims to be a writer first!!)
This is not the case to debate whether Capital-Punishment shud be abolished in India!!
Terrorists are terrorists..they have no regard for human life at all..How can the rules and regulations of a civil society be applied to them,when they don't want to be part of it but follow the jungle law saying:"My way --the Only way!"???
When we had to release JEM cheif in exchange for the passengers of IA flight during the Kandahar fiasco,where were these pacifists and liberalists?Or for that matter,what shud have been the course of action according to these ppl,if say Indian security guards had failed to stop the attackers in time and they had blowed up the parliament??
If they were caught alive after that,shud we still have given them life imprisonment??Making a martyr out of them,giving more ammunition to the Jehadis??And then what next??Another Plane hijacking or some such method employed by the Jehadis to achieve the release of the prisoners?? What do these activists think??By giving the terrorists a life sentence,we are proudly claiming ourselves to be better than the Jehadis??we are not stooping to their level???
They feel we as a part of the civilised society,shud not exact the right to take away a human life legally.
That is barbaric according to them..
Hello!!What abt the cost incurred by the state in the whole process??Jails are for those who can be reformed(atleast that's the benevolent purpose for which jails exist on paper!!)
Why shud the exchequer like me pay for supporting the State in keeping these convicts hale and hearty in the Indian jails??Why shud we always be under a threat like yesterday's alert at all Airports across South India,where in there was a chance that some plane might be hijacked to rescue Afzal Guru??
If a person has been proven guilty of aiding,abetting or committing a grave terrorist act,by a fair and just trial in the lower courts,the High court and the Supreme court too,I don't find any reason to risk the lives of more Indian citizens by keeping him or her alive ..
The key words here however being the accused getting a fair and just trial!!
We all know how well documented the reports of State atrocities on innocent citizens are in areas like the North-East and for that matter even in Kashmir in the early days..
The Naxal infested parts of Central India too are no strangers to police atrocities..That's why one has to be careful..And in cases like that of Afzal,one must surely be doubly careful that no innocent has been made a scapegoat by the authorities in order to save their face in front of the public.
What I think here is Afzal's past has come back to haunt him now..Its quite unlikely that he did not know of the machinations of Mohammad and other perpetuators of the actual attack..After all he was also present when the Car for the suicide bombing was bought in Delhi...
He might have been forced to do their bidding..But the Benefit of doubt does not go to him over here..
One point raised by the group opposed to his clemency is that why are the Afzal suporters crying foul about an unfair trial now when he was awarded the verdict by the SC..why didn't they raise an alarm when and if there was actually a miscarraige of justice as they say,in the lower courts???Where were these human rights activists back then??
The terrorists who were charged with carrying out the actual attack were killed in encounter by security guards on that fateful day..
But for the timely action of constable Kamlesh Kumari,Ashok Chakra awardee(posthumous) there wud have been a major disaster..
Are we really doing justice to her brilliant sacrifice by making a farce out of this trial??
I don't think so..
P.S : http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-question-of-reasonable-doubt
1 comment:
To just enlighten you....checkout the current copy of India Today and real the article on Afzal....maybe u'll realise why our country needs all this farcical show of justice instead of rather executing them directly....a person alive and convicted well suits the "scapegoat theory" rather than a dead skunk....so that some of our rather useless politicians and police boast about something
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