The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday slammed Pakistan Parliament's resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru, saying there can not be normalisation of ties with that country after its polity gave stamp of approval on the terror attack on Indian Parliament.
'The only logical explanation for the sudden hanging of Afzal Guru,' feels Seema Mustafa, 'is the fact that general elections are around the corner. And the Congress in its usual cynical manipulation of votes is trying to eat into the majority constituency with this action.'
'The hanging has made Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's position very vulnerable. The government has created an issue in Kashmir when there was none.'
Afzal Guru's lawyer Nandita Haksar on Thursday said that the law of sedition is "loosely" defined in the Indian constitution and its interpretation depends on who is in power.
Following the hanging of Afzal Guru, Congress MP and grandson of late former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Monday demanded the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the convict on death row for assassinating Beant Singh.
The BJP on Monday took strong exception to remarks by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the hanging of Afzal Guru, alleging that he was speaking the language of separatists and trying to provoke the people of the Valley.
Three men have lost their lives and 70 others, including 40 policemen, have been injured in the violence that has erupted in different parts of Kashmir in the wake of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Although Indian agencies do not see a long term impact of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging, they are aware that some elements from across the border may try and use this issue. Vicky Nanjappa reports
"They are saying that the president disposed of Afzal's mercy petition five days ago, on February 3. But even the petitioners didn't know that his mercy plea had been rejected," says Supreme Court advocate Kamini Jaiswal in an interview
Security has been beefed up at all the sensitive places, including national capital New Delhi and Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, as a precautionary measure since early morning on Saturday after the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
On his first visit to Srinagar post the abrogation of Article 370, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that incidents of terrorism have declined and stone-throwing incidents too have ended in Jammu-Kashmir.
"What about Afzal Guru, who attacked Parliament, our temple of democracy, in 2001 ? That offence predates Kasab's heinous act by many years," Modi tweeted.
Afzal Guru's family is well within its right to seek his body, but the model prison manual prescribes clauses that need to be taken into account before the request is considered, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Questioning the delay in the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it should have happened much earlier, after the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence in 2005.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will see files pertaining to mercy petitions of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru and six others in death row after the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
The family of Afzal Guru, who was hanged last week for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack case, will be allowed to visit his grave inside Tihar jail, Home Secretary R K Singh said on Tuesday.
The decision to carry out the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was a legal decision, not a political one, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Monday.
'Where is the question of not hanging Afzal Guru when the case was an open and shut one,' former R&AW chief C D Sahay tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
The Parliament attack case was one of the most challenging cases for investigators. It had several twists and turns, but finally the curtains came down on it with one of the main accused in the case, Afzal Guru, being hanged at Tihar Jail, New Delhi on Saturday
Jindal said that he had tweeted asking a question to those attacking and insulting Hindu deities and it was not aimed at hurting the religious sentiments of any community.
The Congress on Tuesday said that the party's stand on the resolution seeking amnesty for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru will be decided by its legislators.
Opposition People's Democratic Party on Thursday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of dragging the state assembly into the Afzal Guru issue and refusing to take a stand when the clemency resolution came up for discussion in the House.
Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday hit out at political parties demanding clemency for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and took out a protest rally against the Delhi high court blast that killed 12 persons.
National Investigative Agency chief S C Sinha, has confirmed that the agency is verifying an email sent by harkatuljihadi2011@gmail.com which claims responsibility for Wednesday's blast outside the Delhi high court.
Promising firm action against the demonstrators, the home minister reiterated that anti-national statements cannot be forgiven.
The Delhi Lt Governor's office on Tuesday night sent back the file on Afzal Guru's mercy petition, seeking more clarification from the Delhi government, sources said.
Jantar Mantar in Delhi witnessed protests against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Amid speculation that Jawaharlal Nehru University's chief proctor quit from the post over handling of the Afzal Guru row, the varsity on Saturday said he had resigned much before the controversy broke out.
A Delhi government-appointed magisterial probe did not find any evidence of Jawaharlal Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar raising anti-India slogans at a controversial event in the university, allegations based on which he was slapped with sedition charges by police.
Home Ministry officials have suggested that slapping of the serious charge of sedition against Kumar could be an act of "over enthusiasm" on the part of some Delhi Police officers.
Family members of Parliament attack victims on Monday demanded stringent action against the students allegedly involved in the "anti-national act" in Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Reacting to the renewed demand to give effect to the death sentence awarded to Afzal Guru, former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today said that the demand was "politically motivated."
Union Minister V K Singh on Saturday targeted JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar for calling Rohith Vemula his inspiration, alleging that the Dalit scholar had organised a meeting in support of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.
Demanding the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death in the 2001 Parliament attack case, All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman MS Bitta on Saturday said the Mumbai attacks could have been averted had India sent the 'right message' by rejecting his clemency petition."India should have sent a right message to our enemies by hanging Afzal Guru. Our enemies want to cripple the economy of our country," he said.
According to top government sources, in a Union Cabinet meeting recently, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said ministers like him should be "told what to say" when people ask them about Afzal Guru. Bluntly targetting senior Congress representatives in the Cabinet, Pawar also asked how long the government was going to sit on the case of Afzal's clemency.
In controversial remarks, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said when the government has been pressing for clemency for Sarabjit Singh facing death sentence in Pakistan, how can the demand be made for the hanging of Afzal Guru, condemned prisoner in Parliament attack. "You want Afzal Guru to be hanged. (At the same time) you are saying that don't hang a person who has gone to Pakistan (Singh)," Patil told reporters in Latur on Tuesday.
Kalam had sent Guru's mercy plea to the home ministry for its views.
A London-based group campaigning to save Afzal Guru, sentenced to death for the attack on Indian Parliament, plans to seek the intervention of the new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to get a reprieve for him.
"All those who are supporting the demand for clemency for Afzal Guru are traitors. [Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister] Ghulam Nabi Azad is a traitor."
The court told the police to ask the authorities concerned to expedite the sanctions.
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