'Death penalty of Afzal should not be commuted'

Jammu, Sept 30: BJP and other members of the Sangh Parivar, including the Vishwa Hindu parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini have warned the Centre not to commute the death penalty awarded to Mohd Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack.

In separate statements issued here, the four saffron outfits strongly advocated not to yield to any pressure to commute the death sentence of Afzal Guru.

BJP state unit spokesperson Hari Om said the death sentence awarded to Afzal should not be politicised, as it was an attack on the sovereignty of the largest democratic country.

Meanwhile, VHP state unit president Ramakant Dubey asked separatist and mainstream organisations in Jammu and Kashmir ''not to take the law in their hands and allow the courts to do their job.'' ''The demand to revoke the death penalty was expected from anti-national elements in the Kashmir valley but surprisingly, it came from Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who claims to be a nationalist leader,'' he said, in a release.

The VHP organised a meeting of working committees of Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini, which took a serious note of demands raised by separatist outfits, militant groups, mainstream political parties like National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party as also Mr Azad against the death sentence.

UNI

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