On the morning of 9th February, Afzal Guru—convicted of conspiring with those who attacked India’s Parliament in 2001—was secretly executed in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, following the President’s rejection of his mercy petition. Even his family were not informed about his execution, let alone being allowed to meet him. They have also been denied his mortal remains—a tragic finale in a tale of manipulation and injustice at the hands of the Indian law enforcement and judicial establishments.
The Indian judiciary has been rather selective, to the point of being discriminatory, in deciding who should die and who should live. It must be noted that Guru was not amongst those who actually attacked the Parliament and nor was it claimed that he was the ‘mastermind’. In fact, even though the Supreme Court found “no direct evidence” against him, it upheld his death sentence because “[t]he incident, which resulted in heavy casualties had shaken the entire nation, and the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender.”
In 2011, the Supreme Court refused to award the death penalty to Dara Singh, convicted for attacking and burning alive Graham Staines, an Australian missionary, and his two minor sons in Orissa in January 1999. Clearly, the “collective conscience of society” had made its choice—Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim whose guilt was as far from reasonable doubt as Kashmir is from India’s collective conscience, mattered less and was more disposable than Dara Singh, linked to the militant Hindu right-wing Bajrang Dal, whose guilt was established beyond doubt. Full story...
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The Indian judiciary has been rather selective, to the point of being discriminatory, in deciding who should die and who should live. It must be noted that Guru was not amongst those who actually attacked the Parliament and nor was it claimed that he was the ‘mastermind’. In fact, even though the Supreme Court found “no direct evidence” against him, it upheld his death sentence because “[t]he incident, which resulted in heavy casualties had shaken the entire nation, and the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender.”
In 2011, the Supreme Court refused to award the death penalty to Dara Singh, convicted for attacking and burning alive Graham Staines, an Australian missionary, and his two minor sons in Orissa in January 1999. Clearly, the “collective conscience of society” had made its choice—Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim whose guilt was as far from reasonable doubt as Kashmir is from India’s collective conscience, mattered less and was more disposable than Dara Singh, linked to the militant Hindu right-wing Bajrang Dal, whose guilt was established beyond doubt. Full story...
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- Irom Sharmila and Manipur: a long battle against Indian 'army impunity'
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