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Afzal Guru, a new process and a certain “secular” party

by · March 16, 2011

Very hurried post but getting this out since it has been bothering me since morning. First a bit of background (emphasis added)…
The Supreme Court had in January 2006 dismissed Guru’s appeal against the death sentence after which he filed a mercy petition. A convict on death row can seek clemency from the President, who acts on the cabinet’s advice to arrive at a decision. The plea is processed by the home ministry.
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on February 23, home minister P Chidambaram had said Guru’s plea had not been forwarded to President Pratibha Patil.
When I read this “news” a few days back, I decided to file it carefully for further research. I was curious to know why the plea had not been forwarded. Was it because it would put indirect pressure for a decision? Was it because of any procedural bottleneck? or were there other considerations involved?
I think I have found the reason. From a news-report in today’s “Dainik Bhaskar” (loose Hindi translation below):

गृह मंत्री पी. चिदंबरम ने हाल ही में कहा कि याचिकाओं को राष्ट्रपति के पास भेजने के लिए एक नई प्रक्रिया अपनाई गई है। इसके तहत सजा की तारीख व गृह मंत्रालय में याचिका पहुंचने के दिन के आधार पर इन्हें राष्ट्रपति को भेजा जाता है। चिदंबरम ने बताया कि अप्रैल 1998 से अब तक राष्ट्रपति को 28 याचिकाएं भेजी गई हैं।इनमें केवल दो पर फैसला हुआ है।

According to this report, Home Minister P Chidambaram recently mentioned that a new procedure has now been adopted to send mercy petitions to President. As per this procedure, the petitions are being sent to President for consideration according to the date of sentencing and the date on which the petition was received in the Home Ministry. Chidambaram said that since April 1998, 28 mercy petitions have been forwarded to President. A decision has been made on only two of these.

If all this sounds very odd to you, you are not alone. This is the first time I have heard about this new “procedure/ process”. If any of you have more information on this, I shall be grateful if you could email me or leave a comment below (if you dont wish to reveal your email id while leaving a comment, pl. use satyacomment @ gmail.com).

Wait, there is more…I also stumbled on this innocuously titled news-report in The Hindu today: “82638: Afzal Guru’s pending execution causing strife for Congress” which had this somewhat embarrassing tid-bit about a certain “secular” party (emphasis mine):
7. (C) Comment: The case raises electoral problems for Congress at a national level. Outside of Kashmir, public opinion — still raw from Mumbai — is strongly in favor of Afzal’s execution. A journalist commented that Congress can’t be seen giving a pass to both Pakistan in the Mumbai case as well as giving clemency to Afzal or else the BJP will subject them to withering attacks. On the other hand, Congress does not want to anger the Muslim population in Uttar Pradesh just ahead of crucial elections in February 2007.

This is bad, no? Mixing religion with politics…and worse, assuming that the Muslim population in UP sympathises with convicted terrorists?

Related Post: Afzal-giri vs. Gandhi-giri

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B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

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6 Responses

  1. B Shantanu says:
    March 16, 2011 at 8:59 pm

    More on this, courtesy Sh Ashok-ji. From a news-report in The Hindu, titled“Sonia versus Kalam?” by Mukund Padmanabhan:
    The cable suggests that the “easiest option for the Congress may be to
    delay Afzal’s execution for years to consider his appeal for clemency.”
    This is exactly what has happened. In February 2011, Home Minister P.
    Chidambaram clarified in Parliament that Afzal Guru’s mercy petition,
    filed on October 3, 2006, had not yet been forwarded to President
    Pratibha Patil.

  2. Rohit says:
    March 16, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    May be, just may be, if congress were to hastily hang Afzal without considering his right to appeal, some reporter/group/separatist in some part of India or abroad would shout that this government violated human/legal rights…

  3. Kaffir says:
    March 17, 2011 at 1:18 am

    Rohit, you are confusing “right to appeal” with “mercy petition.” The latter is not a right. Once the Supreme Court has rejected his appeal, there shouldn’t be any delay in carrying out the sentence – who knows, some group in India or abroad could take passengers hostage and demand Afzal Guru’s release.

  4. seadog4227 says:
    March 17, 2011 at 7:56 am

    Guru himself has been on record saying “… my petition should be heard urgently before the BJP returns to power…”.He is aware that his life depends on this corrupt, 3rd rate, anti-national party.
    I am sure Syed Shahabuddin, A.R.Antulay, Digvijay Singh and numerous other Kkkangress insects must be working overtime to somehow release this criminal.

  5. twistleton says:
    March 17, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    Cannot separate politics and religion. The two have inextricably joined hands since the beginning of social hierarchies.

    It is naive to expect a separation of politics and religion; as long as religion continues to occupy public space, however understated, it is not possible to have a secular polity. An actuality that has at times worked and at times back-fired for both the Congress and BJP.

    When politicians are playing to the gallery, it is churlish to expect them to please one and all. Win some, lose some. That’s the game.
    Just as the human rights activists can be accused of selective sympathy, so too can “public opinion outside of Kashmir” (why exclude Kashmir, is Kashmir not a part of India??) be accused of demanding justice on a selective basis.

    What can be demanded is greater transparency,within parties and within government in the hope that at least then partisan politics will not culminate in wrongs.

  6. Rationalist says:
    March 21, 2011 at 1:21 pm

    Sir,
    When we were discussing just this issue, someone pointed out this is not new to Congress. He said just have a look at the history of KHILAFAT movement.
    So this habit of Congress is not new. Its the decades old traditions started by the great venerable Mahatma Gandhi.