Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that Centre's course of action regarding cases similar to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru will determine whether Guru's hanging was "selective and political".
Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed and separatist leaders have been detained.
A petition was on Monday filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the government for handing over Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's body to his family and for laying down guidelines on the issue of relatives' claims over bodies of executed prisoners.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday charged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with "provoking" the situation in KashmirValley and condemned his interview for having a "sympathetic chord" for Afzal Guru who was hanged last week for his role in the Parliament attack case.
Unless we learn to forget our differences and stand together as Indians first, earnestly believing that the cause of the Motherland is bigger than the interests of our groups and parties, the terrorist network cannot be rooted out, says Tarun Vijay
Official sources said it was a normal procedure for the President to refer all pending mercy petitions for consideration to a new home minister after he takes charge.
Authorities have imposed curfew or restrictions on movement of people in most parts of Kashmir Valley to foil plans of separatists to hold protests demanding handing over of the body of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru to his family.
Curfew continued in Kashmir Valley for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday even as authorities blocked all roads leading to the hometown of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru to foil any attempts by people to assemble there on the fourth day ceremony of the deceased.
People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Monday called India a "banana republic" over Afzal Guru's family not being allowed to meet the Parliament attack convict before he was hanged, a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this was a "tragedy".
The Home Ministry sat over Afzal Guru's mercy petition and did not send its recommendation to President A P J Abdul Kalam till his last day in office, it has been disclosed. Putting a lid on speculative reports that Kalam had deliberately kept the petition pending, P M Nair, who was Secretary to the President, said till July 25, 2007, Kalam's last day in office, no recommendation had come from the Home Ministry on the issue.
The Delhi Government on Wednesday once again sent the file of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition to the Lieutenant Governor after incorporating some "minor clarifications".
Responding to Leader of Opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani's demand for a decision before Wednesday, the anniversary of the attack, Patil said no deadline had been set in such cases earlier.
Afzal Guru's belongings like books, clothes, spectacles and a radio are likely to be returned to his family by authorities of Tihar Jail where the Parliament attack convict was hanged in an operation shrouded in secrecy.
The hanging of Afzal Guru has prompted the Uttar Pradesh government to beef up security in and around the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, where nearly two crore people are expected to be converging over the next 24 hours to take a dip on what is considered the 'most auspicious' day of the 55-day-long festival that began on January 14.
Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 Parliament attack case and sentenced to death, was hanged in Tihar Jail at 8 am on Saturday. His mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee earlier this week.
The home ministry has not yet taken a decision on the mercy petition of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, as it was busy in handling the situation arising out of the gang rape of a girl in Delhi.
A youth was killed and two others were injured when security forces fired at demonstrators in Srinagar.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Friday that the Union home ministry would decide on the file pertaining to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition.
The Delhi government has backed the death sentence for Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru, but added that there is a need to examine the implications of the law and order situation while carrying out the Supreme Court's verdict.Earlier, the state government cleared the file on Guru's mercy petition and sent it to the Lieutenant Governor's office, four years after its opinion was sought on the issue by the Centre.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday said she was not aware of any letter sent by the Union home ministry seeking her government's comments on the mercy petition filed by Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
A group of 10 JNU teachers has released a 400-page document prepared last year detailing past controversial events on the campus.
The Congress on Friday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari over his comments about Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying he had 'lost it'. "This is a very disgraceful statement. The country will decide whether such language will be used in polity. Coming from the president of a national party, it is unfortunate and nobody had thought about such degradation of public life," said Manish Tiwari.
The petitions will also be sent to different international human rights organisations like Amnesty International.
A resolution seeking clemency for Afzal Guru, a death row convict in Parliament attack case, was stalled in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Wednesday after pandemonium broke out leading to adjournment of the House without any business being transacted.
Several leaders of moderate Hurriyat Conference, including its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest by the authorities in Srinagar after the separatist amalgam said it will visit the family of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.
According to the official, two Punjab residents were arrested following the recovery of one of the biggest narcotic haul this year from Banihal area along Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
With Jammu and Kashmir assembly slated to discuss a resolution seeking clemency for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, a Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing delegation on Sunday met President Pratibha Patil and said the death sentence awarded to the terrorist should be carried out or it would set a bad precedent.
Under fire from the Opposition over the delay in carrying out the death sentence of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the government on Tuesday put the onus on President Pratibha Patil saying a decision on the issue has to be taken by her.
Indian authorities may claim that they have completed their probe in this case successfully, but the main accused has evaded arrest so far, points out Vicky Nanjappa
Geelani was called to the police station on Monday night where he was detained and questioned for several hours, and later arrested. After his arrest, he was taken to RML Hospital for a medical examination.
Scotland stunned Ireland as Oman beat UAE in the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifiers.
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has urged the Union government to return the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family for burial 'to retrieve trust of the people of Kashmir'.
"Our worst enemies couldn't have done it better," was how eminent jurist Fali S Nariman reacted to the manner of execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru without properly communicating it to his family.
Indian agencies warn that despite being told to maintain a low profile by the ISI, Maulana Masood Azhar could still spin out of control and use the hanging of Afzal Guru as a reason to strike.
Briefing media perons about the number of mercy petitions currently with his ministry, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said there are total 31 cases, out of which 19 have been resubmitted with decision on 11 cases in the last 30 months.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday questioned the delay in the execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru as the nation observes the 11th anniversary of the 2001 Parliament House terrorist attack.
The JNU issued show-cause notice to 21 students after an inquiry panel found them "guilty of violating" norms in connection with the event against Afzal Guru's hanging.
Afzal Guru's close contacts with slain 'Fidayeen' terrorists minutes before the attack on the Parliament coupled with circumstantial evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that he was a party to the conspiracy and played an active part, the Supreme Court had said.
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