Punish Afzal, hang him

Jyeshtha Shukla Chaturthi/Panchami, Kaliyug Varsha 5112

By Joginder Singh

When I was in service, I once required some advice on an important file, or one that at least appeared important to me. I had a very convivial relationship with my supervisor, a pleasant fellow who believed more in gossiping, tossing papers back and forth and socialising than getting his hands dirty. After sending him a number of reminders on the matter, I at last sought an appointment with him to discuss the file. He received me with great cordiality and offered me excellent hospitality, all on Government expense as was the practice in those times.

In the course of our conversation, I tried to broach the subject which required his attention. But whenever I did so, he would digress or completely change the topic of the discussion. I finally spoke up and asked him I wanted his decision on the specific matter. He smiled, patted me on the back, and said: “You are young and enthusiastic.” Then he ceased altogether to speak on the subject.

I was adamant. There was no reason why he would not help me in a work-related concern, or so I surmised. Hence I coaxed him to throw some light on my problem. This is what he said in reply: There are two categories of files at work — those that helped you pass office time in framing and making aimless queries and others that merited more serious attention. The particular file I was referring to — “woh man laganiwali file hai (it needs serious work)”.

I had been under the impression that only some bureaucrats play the game of passing files up and down the corridor. I have been proved wrong since on this count for even the best of politicians play this game. They play it, of course, with more skill and deftness of manoeuvre, under the impression that public memory is short and with passage of time, instead of taking a decision, sweeping everything under the carpet would be the best course of action.

The Government of India has behaved in exactly the same manner as far as the clemency petition filed by Mohammad Afzal, also known as Afzal Guru, convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to death in the December 13, 2001 terrorist attack case on Parliament House is concerned. It had sent the representation of the convict to Delhi Government for its views four years ago and followed it up with 16 reminders.

On August 4, 2005, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence of Afzal Guru. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on October 20, 2006. The Delhi Government attempted to wash its hands of the matter, saying that the implications on law and order needed to be kept in mind in case Afzal Guru was hanged. Thus the game of passing the buck began and continued.

Law and order in Delhi is a Central subject, directly under the control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs which is in the best position to know what is happening in the country and in Delhi as all the intelligence agencies are answerable to it. Afzal Guru has been held guilty of assisting a strike that left seven members of the security forces and Parliament staff dead. He has committed a heinous crime against the nation. Hence his execution has a symbolic value.

It is essential to send forth a message that nobody can engage in acts of terrorism against the country and its institutions and expect to get away with them. Had the terrorist strike succeeded, many of our elected representatives would have died a gruesome death. In addition, throughout the world India would have been viewed as a nation unequipped and incapable of defending its own Parliament House.

Those familiar with the British Parliament’s history may recall that a Catholic rebel by the name of Guy Fawkes had tried to blow up the House of Lords in 1605. He was apprehended and executed. Till this day, November 5 is observed in England as Guy Fawkes Day to commemorate the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The separatists and so-called human rights supporters in Kashmir may have jumped onto the anti-capital punishment bandwagon, but the claim that his hanging might trigger riots in Delhi or elsewhere is a shabby excuse. At this rate, even Ajmal Amir Kasab, the ‘Butcher of Mumbai’, can dodge the gallows for decades.

On the one hand, the Prime Minister speaks of zero tolerance towards terrorism while, on the other, the Government keeps discovering fresh excuses to desist from doing what should have been done four years ago. Even the Quran, of which Kasab is ostensibly a believer, permits exact and equivalent retribution. The present case has gone through the entire legal process. The Government may like to hold a referendum to get the opinion of every Indian on the matter for the nature of the crime is such that no court in the world would award a lesser sentence for it. Yet every conceivable excuse has been used to avoid carrying out the sentence.

In our country, any crime right from the smallest like pick-pocketing and traffic offences are regarded to have been committed against the state. As the laws stand, the victim or his heirs have little or no involvement in the process of bringing the wrongdoer or law-breaker to justice. A number of legal experts and committees, including the Justice Malimath Committee, have, therefore, argued for recognition of the victim’s rights. But as such, there has been no victims’ Bill of rights which is, in essence, a set of basic rights offering protection to victims of crime.

Under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution, the power of pardon is vested with the Governor of each State. On September 15, 2008, the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu ordered the premature release of 1,405 life convicts, including 22 women, to mark the birth centenary of DMK founder and former Chief Minister CN Annadurai. Almost the same with slight variations in names and places is being repeated all over the country. What is the point of vacillating in the guise of procedure in the case of Afzal Guru that has been keeping 53 other prisoners on death row on tenterhooks regarding their fate?

Hence a prompt decision is in order. But the Government must remember that it cannot avoid the consequences of its decision. The results of deficient punishment can be serious at a time when Maoists and terrorists have a free run of the country.

Source:  Daily Pioneer

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