Knots of Conviction

Even as the Valley rises in protest, can Afzal Guru escape the hangman's noose? 
Syed Nazakat / New Delhi  

Inside Rashtrapati Bhavan President APJ Abdul Kalam is sitting with Mohammed Afzal Guru's mother Ayesha Begum, wife Tabassum and seven-year old son Ghalib. They are appealing clemency for Afzal who has been sentenced to death in the Parliament House attack case. Along the corridor, a few men are busy grilling an activist for asking mercy for a 'terrorist' who attacked Indian parliament. Family members of the security guards killed in the attack also land at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the meanwhile with a memorandum urging President Kalam not to show any mercy to Afzal. Downstairs the scribes are debating the hot question: Will Afzal be hanged or will he get clemency?

That's how it was at the President's House last Thursday when Afzal's family came down from their village in Sopore to Delhi to ask for clemency for Afzal. Afzal's death penalty has taken a perilous turn with the daily massive protest demonstrations in Kashmir against  Afzal's hanging and a wide range of politicians, NGOs and civil societies pleading that Afzal should not be hanged. The political parties in the state, barring the main Opposition party the BJP alongwith the Shiv Sena, and the separatist groups there have warned that hanging Afzal could create further unrest in Kashmir.

Acting on the mercy plea filed on behalf of Afzal Guru, who is to be hanged on October 20 for his role in the December 2001 attack, President Kalam, within hours of receiving the petition, forwarded it to the Union home ministry for its comments. The filing of the mercy plea with the President also puts an automatic stay on the execution of the death warrant. The home ministry has taken up the issue with the Delhi Government. On Thursday the home department of Delhi government went through the concerned file and prepared a draft, an official in Delhi government said. "Principal Secretary (Home) O P Kelkar will discuss the matter with the chief secretary R Narayanswamy and then a fresh draft is expected to be prepared by the home department on October 6 that will be sent to the MHA," added the official.

If sources in the MHA are to be believed Afzal Guru's fate would be decided after the Muslim festival- Eid.   "The date of hanging is coinciding with Muslim festival" (Jumatul Wida- the last Friday of Holy month of Ramzan), said a senior officer of MHA. According to legal experts until the petition is disposed of, Guru will not be hanged.  The President on receiving the mercy plea has sought the opinion of the Union Cabinet. Even if the Cabinet rejects the mercy plea, the President can ask it to reconsider. If the Cabinet still sticks to its stand and returns it, he will be bound by its advice.

His family members told Sahara Time they have no clue when exactly Afzal came in touch with Jaish-e-Mohammed. But by early 1999 he had been introduced to two men who would have a dramatic impact on his fate: Tariq, who investigation agencies are saying was the main link between Jaish-e-Moahmmed's chief commander in Kashmir Gazi Baba, and Mohammad who was the ring leader of the parliament House attack. In his confession, Afzal accepts that he met them.

By his own confession, he was involved in the conspiracy to attack which dangerously brought India and Pakistan close to war. But the same confessional statement also raises many crucial questions – Who was Tariq and where is he today? Where did Afzal meet him? Why was Afzal released by STF after he was arrested for having links with Jaish?  How Afzal developed links with Jaish when he was under constant vigil of the STF and other security agencies?  Has Afzal been made scapegoat while the big fishes went scot-free? 

"We are not debating whether he is guilty or innocent. Our point is that he didn't get an opportunity to defend himself. He didn't get a lawyer of his choice. He was simply denied a fair trial," says A G Noorani, noted lawyer. "How can you hang somebody without giving him a chance to defend himself?" he asked.

But the clemency requests have set off a major controversy. "If Parliament House attack is not fit for hanging, what crime would warrant it? And, what about the security personnel killed in that attack?" BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar asked. " The nation stands shocked to see a chief minister making such a plea for a terrorist. Those who are asking for his pardon should actually apologise to the nation for insulting security personnel who laid down their lives fighting those terrorists," he added.

The security agencies are in no doubt that he played an important role in the Parliament attack. The Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty to him.  But at the heart of Afzal's conviction is a big hitch. When JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat was hanged in 1984, he became a hero in Kashmir overnight. His hanging eventually galvanized the political unrest in Kashmir, inspired people to join JKLF, the militant outfit founded by him.
"It would be a big mistake to make him another martyr and hero. Let him die a silent and more painful death,"said a senior Congress leader. He pointed out that even the United States didn't give death penalty to Al-Qaida recruit Zacaria Moussaoui, 34, who was accused in the WTC attack that killed almost 3,000 innocent people fearing that his death will become inspiration for  future recruits of Al-Qaeda."

So will Afzal be hanged or not ? Wait till the President's verdict.