BJP to oppose clemency for Afzal

New Delhi, Oct 4 (UNI) The BJP leadership today decided to petition President A P J Abdul Kalam that the tempo sought to be created by some parties for granting clemency to Mohammad Afzal facing death sentence for conspiring to wipe out the political leadership of the country was totally misplaced and he should reject the request.

A meeting of top BJP leaders at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee felt that a person who actively participated in the attack on Parliament killing 11 security men in December 2001 deserved no sympathy, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley told newspersons after a meeting that lasted over an hour.

Some parties are attempting to create an atmosphere for letting the condemned prisoner off the hook. The BJP will prepare a memorandum asking the nation to be on the guard against the move.

Expressing their concern about the deteriorating political and law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir where every party excepting the BJP appeaared to be soft on 'terrorism' or indirectly supporting the terror, the BJP said the situation in the state was horrible and the things had to be set right immediately. The Terrorism was on the rise and infiltration had escalated and the the Centre did not have the will to fight terror.

Besides BJP leaders like L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Sushma Swaraj, those who attended the meeting included senior RSS functionaries like Suresh Soni and leaders who are handling the Jammu and Kashmir affairs.

UNI MCN KAS PA BD2002