Manistream, separatists seek Presidential pardon for Guru

Srinagar, Sep 29 (UNI) Several mainstream and separatist parties in Jammu and Kashmir, sinking their differences, have joined hands to seek review of the death penalty to Mohammad Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case.

A Delhi court on September 26 had ordered Guru to be hanged till death in Tihar jail on October 20 for his role in the December 13, 2001 terror attack on Indian Parliament.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met PM Manmohan Singh in Chandigarh yesterday and reportedly sought Presidential clemency for Guru, citing the public sentiment in the Valley against the verdict.

National Conference (NC) President and former Union Minister Omar Abdullah pleaded for review of the death verdict.

Mr Abdullah said thousands of people have been killed so far and several others sent to gallows, but the Kashmir issue still remained unresolved and after every killing the scene worsens.

''Our efforts are at present focussed on making the dialogue process a success and restoring the atmosphere of peace and security in the state. Steps such as execution of Guru have potential to squander all these efforts and make the matters worse. We cannot afford to ignore the sentiments and aspirations of the people,'' Mr Abdullah said. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti is also of the same view.

She said the execution would have an adverse impact on the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan and the situation in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Hurriyat Conference (moderate faction) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement from New York, expressed deep ''shock and anguish'' over the court verdict.

''Death sentence in 21st century is an inhuman, immoral and barbarous step.'' he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir CPI(M) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik also echoed similar sentiments.

The Kashmir Bar Association and several other separatist leaders such as Hurriyat Conference (breakaway) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Democratic Freedom Party President Shabir Ahmed Shah, National Front Chairman Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Democratic Liberation Party (DLP) Chairman Hashim Qureshi, Peoples Conference Chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone and rival JKLF leader Javed Mir besides militant organisations have also ''denounced'' and protested the court order.

On September 26 in New Delhi, Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur while issuing the order of execution, to be carried out at 0600 hrs at Tihar Jail here on October 20, said Afzal be hanged by neck until dead.

Afzal along with Delhi University lecturer S A R Geelani and cousin Shaukat Hussain Guru were sentenced to death by a special POTA court on December 18, 2002.

The court had also sentenced Afsan Guru, wife of Shaukat Guru, to five years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 for concealing knowledge of the conspiracy. The Delhi High Court had later acquitted Geelani and Afsan Guru in the case.

The Supreme Court confirmed Afzal Guru's death sentence on August 4, 2005 and changed the capital punishment awarded to Shaukat Guru to ten years of rigorous imprisonment.

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