Mohammad Afzal was handed a death sentence for helping execute a terrorist attack at the Indian parliament. Several people were killed in the incident which was a direct attack at the seat of country's democracy. So you would think that this heinous crime deserves no mercy. However, in typical desi manner, we have politicized the issue in the most disgusting manner. Afzal's family was well within its rights to file a mercy petition with the President. But it is beyond my comprehension that we are witnessing widespread protests in Kashmir supporting Afzal. How can any case be made for defending a terrorist? Others like Geelani (who was himself suspected in the same incident and got away on a technicality) are making veiled threats of violence should Afzal be hanged
Speaking for Afzal, Geelani (formerly an accused in the 2001 attack that rocked the nation) recalled that when Maqbool Bhat was hanged in 1984, it resulted in thousands of Kashmiris taking to violence.This of course has become a good oppurtunity for gaining political mileage as well. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke in support of Afzal. It is shameful that chief minister of a state that has suffered so much at the hands of terrorism should speak in support of a terrorist.
"Do you want the same thing to happen again," he asked. The dire warning was accompanied by a disclaimer that Afzal was not innocent. "I am not saying he (Afzal) is innocent. But he has not got justice.
We are questioning the quantum of punishment... Death penalty is not the proper sentence," Geelani said
Hindustan Times editorial carried an absurd argument in favor of showing mercy on Afzal:
If executing a proven terrorist will further alienate the state from rest of India (which is a gross exaggeration), then we need to really think again the willingness of that state to become one with India. I am sure most Kashmiris would not condone such violence and would not support showing leniency towards terrorism. Besides, this argument suggests that had the terrorist been a Gujarati or a Marathi, it was OK to execute him because those states are anyway well integrated with rest of the country. In fact, if the mercy appeal is accepted then it will be a victory for the seperatist movement.There are two reasons why Mohammed Afzal should not be sentenced to death. First, while Afzal deserves the strictest punishment for the part he played in the attack on Parliament House in December 2001, we think he does not fit into the ârarest of rareâ category. Afzal was neither the main planner of the attack nor its perpetrator. In other words, he was not, unlike Nathuram Godse, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Beant Singh, personally involved in killing anyone. His role was that of helping the main accused, who are either dead or are yet to be arrested. Second, we need to pay heed to the near-unanimous view in Kashmir
Valley that Afzal should not be executed. That both Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Farooq Abdullah agree on this is because they understand that, like the execution of Maqbool Butt in 1984, the action could further alienate the state from the rest of India and create yet another âmartyrâ for the separatist movement.
Incidents like this just reiterate our "soft state" image across the world. They also expose how low we can stoop to politicize even issues of national security and integrity. Shame on us!
I fully agree with you Gaurav,
Afzal, should not be given mercy, at any cost, if India is a respectable nation. It is secondary question which state he belongs to.
But something that I heard in the news today, was really shocking. It makes me rethink the stand of India(Govt as well as Judiciary) towards Kashmiri Masses.
Afzal's Lawyer, Nandini(forgot her full same), claims that the scentence that SC passed was:
"We hang to satisfy the Mass National Concience"
Now what is the meaning of this "mass national concience".
Further, today I came to know that, he was not granted any defence lawyer by the court. So it was a one sided trail. His side of story was never told or heard. Now I understand, why he always kept saying that he does not want justice, this man simply had lost faith in Indian Judiciary.
No matter, how great a criminal/terrorist be, he has the right to fair trail.
I have a different take on this issue. That guy is a bloody terrorist and he doesn't deserve any mercy. However, I see the issue as follows.
If we hang him, he is going to be termed a martyr and his very death will be used to incite violence against Indians. His death will be used by other terrorists to portray him as a freedom fighter who lost his life fighting the enemies. His death will be used to motivate the terrorists in Kashmir which is sort of slowing down in the past 2+ years (relatively). His death will just keep the terrorists motivated to fight India.
If we accept the mercy petition and put him in a jail with almost zero communications with the outside world, India can claim high moral ground on the issue. The terrorists will not be able to make a propaganda against India. The terrorists will lose their face when they try to tell people that India is hell bent upon killing Kashmiris. Terrorists will not be able to motivate other fundamentalists and incite violence against India.
I think that it is sensible to take the second path. Why should India stoop down to the level of terrorists and make a point by hanging him? If he is just shut inside the jail, people will be talking about him for a month or two. Then slowly he will fade into the oblivion.
It is for India to decide whether to make him a Martyr or just make him vanish from the memory of people and terrorists. A sensible decision is the second option.
Regarding the politicians, it is not just Ghulam Nabhi Azad who is like it. Also it is not true that Indian politicians will not ask for mercy if it is a Gujarathi or Marathi. We did see BJP disrupting the Parliament to pass a resolution asking mercy for the Indian (I think his name is Sarandip Singh or something similar) lodged in Pakistani Jail. BJP was disrupting the Parliament and keeping the issue alive till the news came out that he converted to islam. Why didn't India think at that time that he was also a bloody terrorist who killed innocents in Karachi? Why did Indians wanted Mercy from Pakistan? Why is it right to ask Mercy for an Indian terrorist in the pakistan jail and making it a political issue, whereas it is wrong to do it for a Kashmiri terrorist in Indian jail?
It is just that people see their breed differently from others. Thatz why Ghulam Nabhi Azad is asking for Mercy now and Vajpayee and Advani asked for mercy then. As far as doing politics is concerned, all politicians are same. They will do anything to suck up to their electorate and be quiet if it happens to someone on the other side.
If Gandhism is to be followed, just put him in a maximum security jail for life (courts can put people in jail for his entire life. it is possible) and allow him to vanish from the radar. The issue is similar to that guy who got arrested in US for Sept. 11th. The jury took a sensible stand and put him in jail for life rather than make him a martyr fighting US. We should adopt the same approach as the jury and make him a noname person.
Well written Gaurav. If India as a nation, which is held in high esteem for its democracy and social justice throughout the world, cannot decide who it wants in its society and who it doesnt, then its a bloody pity. Though my fellow Kashmiri brother does have a point where the wheels of judiciary might have a few cogs blunted, one doesnt necessarily have to look at it from a us(kashmiri) versus them(rest of india) perpective - things like this happen - and anyways the case against the criminal that Afzal proved to be was really sufficient no matter how brilliant a defence counsel he would have got. But not executing him for the fear that it will give rise to more martyrs, well the people of Kashmir who have gone wrong need to know what fate awaits them if they take the wrong path. I really dont feel that India should go the Isreali way, but when there is conclusive evidence - Hang the Bastard!
As we see around the world, there is no single correct way of dealing with terrorists. Israel's aggressive techniques have lead to more rebellion amongst Palestinians, Hezbollah, and rest of middle east. But at the same time, they are surviving just because they are aggressive. Vladimir Putin handled the Moscow auditorium situation in the toughest manner which ended the terrorists and lot of innocent civilian lives as well but Chechnya still has violence every day. China has a region where Muslims have separatist agenda and they handle it in a tough way as well. US State Department has a "No Negotiation" policy with terrorists. Indians made a mistake by letting a terrorist free when a plane was hijacked to Kabul in 2001. I worry putting a high profile terrorist in jail instead of hanging would lead to more of those situations.
I still lean towards having a tough stand but at the same time we need to be open to creative ideas of handling such situations. Often times, root cause of terrorism is ignorance, poverty and unemployment rather than religion or race.
Hi Gaurav,
There are two separate points.
Point 1 is whether giving the death penalty is an effective way of dealing with terrorism. After all the goal is not revenge killing of terrorists, but to stop terrorism in the future. On this point, I agree with many of the commenters above.
Point 2 is whether the death penalty is the correct punishment for this particular crime, which deserves some more looking into.
The clear trend internationally over the last couple of decades has been the removal of the death penalty. 86 countries have abolished the death penalty. The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights has an optional protocol abolishing the death penalty, and international tribunals that conduct trials of the world's mass murderers for genocide have also abolished the death penalty.
To put it in context, dictators (eg. Milosevic) who systematically killed thousands of people cannot be given a death penalty if tried by an interational tribunal. This is not because countries want to be "soft" with dictators, but it is on a matter of principle.
On this point, India has taken a stand of having the death penalty, but only using it in the "rarest of the rare" cases.
The point is that the death penalty is a special penalty. As far as possible, we don't want to use it, even for the most terrible crimes.
If people are already marching on roads, hanging him would only agitate the crowd. If we keep him in maximum security prison for life, it will only increase cost and chances of somebody hijacking a flight for his freedom.
I believe, best way could be to do what Indian judicial system is already doing for long. Suspend the matter if it is warm. Don't hang him now but wait for 6 months. Open issue again. If people still remember him, suspend again only to be opened 6 months later.
Even the highest of motivations die with time. Do the needful when the time is right.
We don't have super-max prisons like here in US, where life is so hard that people would prefer death. Also, keeping these people in jails could lead to situations like the hijacking of IC184 in 1999, where we had to release terrorists in order to get our citizens back. Its better to put them to death especially since they go killing innocent people.
No need to kill this terrorist. Just cut off his hands, legs and you know what, blind his eyes, slash his tongue and let him go. And vola he lives!!
The terrorist pig Geelani's desire to not kill another terrorist is fullfilled.
As per the law of the land , the punishment should be given. no one is above the law of the land and the case should not take political turns.
Thanks for the comments! I agree that everybody should get a fair trial. However, the trial was going on for over 5 years and yet it is only now that voices are being raised about the unfairness of the trial. This is an obvious attempt gain political mileable out of this issue. I also don't think that we should show undue cruelty or vengence. Justice is supposed to be blind and treat everybody equally. However, if the honorable supreme court has passed a verdict, it should be adhered to.
Yes shame on us! Satyendra Dubey stood rock solid without compromising his honesty. PMO compromises his identity. Shot dead.
Manjunath attempts to stop adulteration of fuel malpractice. Burnt alive.
Thangjam Manorama, Manipuri woman activists protests against Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Gets arrested under the same Act. Tortured, raped and killed in custosy. Soldiers shooting bullets in her genitals to cover up the gender part of the crime.
Manipuri women standing naked in front of Assam Rifles camp in protest daring the soldiers to rape them.
Irom Chanu Sharmila fasting for six years at a stretch now being force feed through the nose by the Central Government. She has resolved to see Armed Forces Special Powers Act repealed. It is nothing but Rowlatt Act renamed. The Act for the abolition of which your and my forefathers sacrificed their lives. Shame on them!
The Act still exists. Read word for word of both Rowlatt Act and AFSPA.
The Hindu as well as Muslim masterminds of countless riots in which women and little children were butchered are living a life of luxury. Yes, many escaped death on December 13, 2001.
The UP State Govt officers shamelessly handed over Rs. 2 cheques to farmers as drought compensation. The farmers are deliberating killing their families and themselves. Nobody will be hanged if they do so.
Haryana State Govt officers caught red handed accepting brine to grant NOC for petro pumps for the families of soldiers killed in Parliament Attacks.
The curse of Dubey and Manjunath and countless Kashmiris oppressed will haunt us forever. If you think I'm pulling allegations out of thin air, read the reports of various independent agencies like Amnesty International. Okay they are rascals! Read the Common Minimum Programme of the State Govt of Jammu & Kashmir on the basis of which it was elected. Read the admissions made in that CMP. You will be shocked.
I dare you to put this comment on your blog. I do not doubt your patriotism but I feel it is blind patriotism. India will be sold on the black market and you and I will be too busy scolding Pakistan to even notice.
The monster is within. Shame on us!