‘Indian state is applying ‘law of lawlessness’ on Kashmiris’

SC verdict on Rajiv assassins  SEROHI NANDAN/ SHABIR AHMAD JAMMU, FEB 19: Hailing the decision of the supreme court to commute the death sentence of the Rajiv Gandhi assassins, noted human rights activists based in Delhi today said that hanging Afzal Guru and giving relief to the Rajiv assassins has exposed the bias and prejudice of Indian political and judicial system towards Kashmiris. “I am happy that Supreme Court has commuted the death penalty of three people convicted in Rajiv Gandhi’s murder case. The decision will ultimately strengthen our position against death penalty against which we have been voicing our concern for long. But at the same time I am saddened over how the justice was murdered in case of Afzal Guru. In his case Government worked in hasty manner. He was not even allowed to defend himself in the court of law. It was a judicial murder,” Gautam Navlakha said. He said that by hanging Afzal and commuting the death sentence of these people, Indian state has sent a strong message to Kashmiris that ‘You are not among us’. “While giving relief to the trio Indian judiciary should have atleast regretted what it did in case of Afzal Guru which it never did. India wants to convey the message of its might to the gullible Kashmiris who have been fighting for freedom since decades,” Navlakha said. President of the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) and HR activist, Prof. SAR Geelani, also expressed happiness over the decision of the SC to commute the death sentence of three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination but added that the same yardstick was not applied in case of Afzal Guru. “We are happy over the SC decision as CRPP has always opposed the capital punishment. However the different yardstick was adopted in Guru case. Sending him to gallows with no solid evidence of his involvement has exposed to the hilt how the Indian political and judicial system is biased against Kashmiris in general and Kashmiri Muslims in particular,” Geelani said. He said that the way Afzal Guru was hanged secretly was against the international laws also. “His wife and son were not even conveyed about his execution or given a chance to meet him once before being sent to gallows. The whole process of execution was unjustified. Indian democracy stands completely exposed. Indian state seems to have launched a war against people of Kashmir,” Geelani added. A valley based, HR activist, Khuram Parvez said that commuting death sentence of the trio and executing Guru speaks of the double standards adopted of Indian state. “The decision is good and we hail the SC for coming up with such a decision. But now it stands proved that Indian law is not for Kashmiris but the law of lawlessness. Afzal Guru hanging was a custodial and judicial murder. SC did not even bother to take suo motto cognizance in his case. The conduct of Indian state towards Kashmir and its people vindicates our stand that Kashmir was never and is not the integral part of India.” News Updated at : Thursday, February 20, 2014 COMMENT ON THIS STORY