PDP was responsible for Afzal Guru's fate: National Conference

Srinagar, Nov 29: The National Conference on Saturday hit out at the People's Democratic Party (PDP), saying it was the latter which was responsible for the hanging of Afzal Guru in February last year. [Afzal Guru hanged in Tihar Jail]

It said the PDP leaders' disappointment over the incident was nothing but a political gimmick and that Guru's legal fight had started and ended when the PDP government was in power, between 2002 and 2005. [J&K assembly election 2014 schedule]

In a statement issued here, the NC said PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed didn't utter a single word when Guru was indicted. Mufti was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir then.

"Afzal was indicted, convicted and sentenced during tenure of PDP. It's nothing more than the political gimmick that this father and daughter duo is playing," a NC leader said.

The leader said the hanging of Guru was the most unfortunate thing that could have happened in any democratic country, adding that the PDP had no right to take Guru's name particularly during the election.

It was PDP leader and MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig who had deserted Maqbool Bhat, who was a militant leader and co-founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and hanged on February 11, 1984, when his case came up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

The PDP had expressed disappointment following Afzal Guru's execution

"Muzaffar Baig was hired as Bhat's lawyer - was paid the retainership but absconded on the day when he had to appear on bhat's behalf and due to this Bhat was left without a legal defence," he said, adding: "This was validated by none less than Indira Gandhi and more recently has been acknowledged by Baig's erstwhile political colleagues."

The PDP said after the hanging of Guru that political sensitivities should have been taken into consideration while a decision was made on Guru, who was executed secretly in Delhi's Tihar jail.

Guru was convicted for his role in the December 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.

Oneindia News