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Even today, Afzal Guru rules politicians’ minds?

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A day after the former Home Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram defended “holding a different opinion on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s execution,” Guru’s wife Tabassum Guru said, “People like Mr. Chidambaram are rubbing salt on our wound. This exercise is just for gaining sympathy and creating a vote bank on the name of my husband. People involved in execution are claiming that his case was wrongly decided; these remarks were “too late” and aimed at “vote bank politics.” She accused Chidambaram of “acting as mute spectator” when a decision to execute Guru was taken in 2013. She also accused the Congress government of disallowing “handing over the personal belongings of Guru or his mortal remains.” People are well aware that Afzal was not involved [in the Parliament attack]. Even the Supreme Court sentenced him to death saying ‘to satisfy the collective conscience of Indian society’.

Mohammad Afzal Guru was a Kashmiri separatist, who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. He received a death sentence for his involvement, which was upheld by the Apex Court. Independent commentators have questioned his sentence stating that he did not receive adequate legal representation and that his execution was carried out in secrecy. Following the rejection of a mercy petition by the President of India, he was executed on 9 February 2013. His body was buried within the precincts of Delhi’s Tihar Jail. His family was not allowed to meet him or neither given the remaining. They were ill treated by the erstwhile government in power.

Afzal’s native place was Sopore. There, he ran a commission agency business. It was during this business venture that he came into contact with Tariq, a man from Anantnag, who motivated him to join Jihad for the liberation of Kashmir. He crossed the Line of Control and preceded to Muzaffarabad, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). There, he became a member of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and then returned to Sopore shortly afterward to lead 300 rebels. He did odd jobs and completed his graduation from Delhi University in the year 1993–94. Shaukat Guru who was a friend of SAR Geelani, made Guru visit Geelani and they used to discuss Jihad and the “liberation” of Kashmir at length. In the summer of 1993–94, on the advice of his family, he surrendered to the Border Security Force and returned to Delhi where he worked till 1996. He took up a job with a pharmaceuticals firm and served as its area manager. Simultaneously, he worked as a commission agent for medical and surgical goods. During this period, he used to shuttle between Srinagar and Delhi. On a visit to Kashmir in 1998, he married a Baramulla native, Tabassum.

The attack was conducted by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Gunmen sneaked into the Parliament in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. They drove into the then Vice President Krishna Kant’s car parked in the premises and began firing. The ministers and MPs escaped unhurt. The attack was foiled due to the immediate reaction of the security personnel present at the spot and complex. There was a fierce gun-battle lasting for nearly 30 minutes. Nine persons including eight security personnel and one gardener lost their lives in the attack and 16 persons including 13 security personnel, sustained injuries. The five assailants were killed. At the end of December, then US President George W. Bush made a telephone call to then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to defuse tension between the two countries and urged them to move away from escalating the Parliament attack into war. On 15th December 2001, the special cell of Delhi Police, with the help of leads relating to the car used and cellphone records, arrested Guru from Srinagar, his cousin Shaukat Husain Guru, Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru (Navjot Sandhu before marriage) and SAR Geelani, a lecturer of Arabic at Delhi University were also arrested by the police. Guru was charged under several sections of POTA and Indian Penal Code including, waging of war against the Government of India and conspiracy to commit the same; murder and criminal conspiracy; conspiring and knowingly facilitating the commission of a terrorist act or acts preparatory to terrorist act and also voluntarily harbouring and concealing the deceased terrorists knowing that such persons were terrorists and were the members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and possession of Rs. 10 Lakhs given to him by the terrorists who were killed by the police when they attacked the Parliament. After his arrest, Guru made a confessional statement which bore his signature, recorded by the DCP, special cell. It was recorded in the preamble of the confession that DCP had asked policemen present there to leave the room. The Supreme Court was angered by the act of police officials, who, in their over-zealousness, had arranged for a media interview. However, after seven months, Guru disowned this confession and the Supreme Court did not accept the earlier confession as evidence against him.

The Supreme Court observed that mostly, the conspiracies are proved by the circumstantial evidence. It held that the circumstances detailed in the judgement clearly established that Guru was associated with the deceased militants in almost every act done by them in order to achieve the objective of attacking the Parliament House. It also observed that there was sufficient and satisfactory circumstantial evidence to establish that Guru was co-conspirator in the crime of enormous gravity. In its Judgement of 5 August 2005, the Supreme Court admitted that the evidence against Guru was only circumstantial and there was no evidence that he belonged to any terrorist organisation. He was subsequently meted out three life sentences and a double death sentence. On 16 November 2012, the president had sent seven cases back to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), including Afzal Guru’s.

Afzal Guru was hanged at Tihar Jail in February 2013. Jail officials have said that when Guru was told about his execution, he was calm. He expressed his wish to write to his wife. The jail superintendent gave him a pen and paper. He wrote the letter in Urdu, which was posted to his family in Kashmir the same day. The execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru was named Operation Three Star.

Afzal Guru left this world three years ago, but politicians are still gaining publicity in his name. Even today, these greedy politicians don’t let him Rest in Peace.

(With Inputs from agency)

 (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

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Vaidehi Taman
Vaidehi Tamanhttps://authorvaidehi.com
Vaidehi Taman an Accredited Journalist from Maharashtra is bestowed with three Honourary Doctorate in Journalism. Vaidehi has been an active journalist for the past 21 years, and is also the founding editor of an English daily tabloid – Afternoon Voice, a Marathi web portal – Mumbai Manoos, and The Democracy digital video news portal is her brain child. Vaidehi has three books in her name, "Sikhism vs Sickism", "Life Beyond Complications" and "Vedanti". She is an EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker, OSCP offensive securities, Certified Security Analyst and Licensed Penetration Tester that caters to her freelance jobs.
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