Civil Rights campaigners oppose Afzal's execution

New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) Leaders of various civil and human rights organisations have strongly condemned the death penalty handed down to Parliament attack mastermind Mohammad Afzal Guru, saying that it satisfied ''misplaced jingoism'' and but not the nation's ''collective conscience''.

Within the ruling coalition, no one has spoken against the Supreme Court's recent death sentence on Afzal, based on circumstantial evidence, said the leaders at a discussion organised by Jan Hastakshep, Campaign Against Fascist Designs yesterday.

The leaders also accused the BJP of creating an ''incessant ruckus'' by demanding the implementation of the death penalty to Afzal.

During the discussion on ''Collective Conscience must not be Vindictive-- Must Afzal Hang?'', the speakers upheld the clemency appeal by Afzal's wife as a legitimate and constitutional right.

''The fact that the Courts choose to remain largely unaccountable, outside the ambit of constructive criticism and immune to the democratic impulses of the nation's citizenry is dangerous and poses a growing threat to the democratic character of our polity, an issue which needs to be addressed with urgency.'' A panel of speakers comprising noted lawyers and political activists like Rajendra Yadav, Professor Imtiaz Ahmed and N D Pancholi cited the ''gross inconsistency'' in the investigation of Afzal's case and also on the partisan role played at various levels in putting back standards of humanism, conscience and law to the medieval ages.

Dr Ahmed was clear that Afzal's case was another example of the erosion of democratic values and the intrusion of communal agendas into all spheres of public life.

Mr Pancholi spoke about Afzal's pending clemency appeal and the importance of understanding the context within which such appeals were filed; whereas the courts were only bound by evidence, the President can take into account the broader social and political considerations for reasons of state.

He also pointed out the difficulties Afzal faced in getting legal help and how he was clearly a victim of a conspiracy hatched by the Jammu and Kashmir police. In fact, Afzal had declared that Mohamed, one of the participants in the attack was introduced to him by a DSP in Srinagar and that most of the identifications he made were under police threat.

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