Why Afzal Must Not Be Hanged
By Nandita Haksar
"..The Supreme Court of India acquitted Mohammad Afzal of the charges of
belonging to any terrorist organisation. There was not even an iota of
evidence produced by the prosecution to link Afzal with any banned
organisation. Secondly, Afzal was not directly involved in the killing
of anyone. Thirdly, the Supreme Court rejected his confession because
it was found to be extracted by torture...
...Despite this the Supreme Court sentenced Afzal Guru to death. Why? The
Supreme Court held: "The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties,
had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the
society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to
the offender...
...In a resolution passed in Srinagar on September 24,
2005 the leaders of the movement for Kashmir's self-determination asked
the following question:
"We the people of Kashmir ask: why the
collective conscience of Indians is not shaken by the fact that a
Kashmiri has been sentenced to death without a fair trial, without a
chance to represent himself? Throughout the trial at the Sessions Court
Mohammad Afzal asked the Judge to appoint a lawyer. He even named
various lawyers but they all refused to represent him. Is it his fault
that the Indian lawyers think it is more patriotic to allow a Kashmiri
to die rather than ensure he gets a fair trial?..
This resolution was signed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Mian Abdul Qayyoom and Nisar Mir.
...Now once again Afzal is being hanged by the media..."
http://www.countercurrents.org/haskar270510.htm
If Azal is hanged today will it resolve any problem? Will it satisfy
the conscience of this country? Will all those gunning for him feel any
safer? The answer to all these questions is 'no'. Hanging Afzal under
the pressure of the Hindu Right-wing lobby would only endanger Indian
security and would be a stigma on Indian democracy
--
You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.
-AMBEDKAR
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