By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Several human rights activists and groups have condemned the ‘secretive’ execution of Afzal Guru, calling it politically motivated.
Several ‘concerned’ citizens, including Mahesh Bhatt, Sandeep Panday, Dr. Mazher Hussain, Dr. Ram Puniyani, among others issued a joint statement condemning the “continued use of death penalty.” They added, “We are also dismayed to know that his family members were not informed about the hanging and his body was not handed over to them as per colonial prison rules that should be revised immediately.”
The joint statement suggested at political motivation behind the execution, and said: “this decision could have been guided not just by judicial considerations but also by political exigencies, and hence is a matter of concern for democratic traditions and civilized values of our society.”
Hyderabad based Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee (CLMC) issued a statement saying, “The attitude of government of India towards Afzal Guru reflects how the state behaves with Kashmiri people. Afzal Guru became the target of Indian state because he was a Muslim and belonged to Kashmir valley.”
CLMC believes that the “capital punishment is an inhuman act and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of United Nations is against the capital punishment.” It further demanded from the government of India to abolish the death penalty and follow the International standards of justice and fair trial for all.
National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) too has demanded the abolition of the death punishment, as they regard it “against human rights.”
Human rights groups pointed out that Afzal did not receive “fair trial” and highgligted the observation of the apex court in the matter, “...the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender.” The Supreme Court had further added, “…there is no evidence that he is a member of a terrorist gang or a terrorist organization, once the confessional statement is excluded. Incidentally, we may mention that even going by confessional statement, it is doubtful whether the membership of a terrorist gang or organization is established.”
NCHRO also condemned the attack by Bajrang Dal members on the peaceful protest orgnaised against ‘secretive execution,’ that included women and students at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi today and demand for the government to arrest them.
Meanwhile, a resolution adopted at the Second Shahid Azmi Memorial Lecture - which incidentally was on February 9 - condemned "in no uncertain terms the hanging of Afzal Guru by stealth and in secrecy, disallowing him the last judicial resort that was due to him. We condemn the callous denial to Afzal Guru the last opportunity to meet with his family members."