SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday warned that the execution of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru would lead to the further alienation of Kashmiris from the Indian mainstream — especially when the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab chief minister Beant Singh were still alive.
Omar said he had told various UPA leaders in the past that hanging Afzal would lead to a strong backlash from the state's people.
Unhappy at the manner in which the UPA government went about the execution, the head of the Congress-National Conference coalition government hinted that New Delhi carried out the death penalty with an eye on future elections.
The chief minister, who spoke to various national news channels, said not informing Afzal's family about his hanging showed that even basic humanitarian norms were not observed in his case. He asked the Centre to hand over Afzal's body to his family for the last rites.
Omar even questioned the Supreme Court verdict against the convict. "Afzal was awarded death sentence on [the basis of] circumstantial evidence rather than facts ... provided before the court," he said. He said the Centre should have provided a lawyer to Afzal. "If it was not possible for them to provide the lawyer in Delhi, a lawyer should have gone from here to plead for Guru," he said.
The CM criticized the home ministry's statement that Afzal's family was informed through Speed Post about the rejection of his clemency petition by the president. "Do you expect such kind of communication to be sent through Speed Post in the internet age?" he said.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir valley was by and large peaceful on Sunday, though there were reports of some incidents of violence in Sopore and Baramulla in north Kashmir. But internet services and local cable networks continued to remain suspended.
No local or national newspaper was available in the Valley on Sunday. While national newspapers could not reach the stands due to continued curfew, local newspapers could not be published due to police instructions. The newspaper owners accused the authorities of denying them permission to publish on Saturday evening.
"A police team arrived at the printing press and asked the management late in the night at 12 o'clock not to publish the newspaper for Sunday," read a post of Greater Kashmir, the largest circulated daily in J&K. "Though no written orders were issued to the media groups.... ." Journalists working with Greater Kashmir said they had completed the edition and left home on Saturday night, but found on Sunday morning that the authorities had imposed a ban on the publication of newspapers in the state.
Apparently, newspaper managements were verbally told not to publish. Official, however, expressed ignorance over any such police action.
Scattered protests, one dies in Ganderbal
A youth, Tariq Ahmad Bhat, died in Ganderbal district when people protesting the hanging of Afzal Guru clashed with security forces on Sunday. According to a senior police officer, Bhat drowned after the security forces gave chase to a violent group of youngsters near the Sumbal area in Ganderbal district.
Major towns in the Valley remained under curfew for a second day. Still, mobs of hundreds of youths hurled stones on security forces in Bandipora, Sopore and Baramulla in north Kashmir. By and large, the police said, the situation remained normal. There were isolated incidents of stone-pelting at different places, a police spokesman said. Four police personnel were injured, one of them seriously.
According to reports, youths threw stones at over a dozen places in the evening soon after the authorities removed the security deployment from areas such as Rawalpora, Raj Bagh and Barazulla in Srinagar.
Both factions of the Hurriyat have called for a three-day general strike across the Valley to protest Afzal's hanging.
Omar apprehends further Kashmiri alienation
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Omar apprehends further Kashmiri alienation
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Omar apprehends further Kashmiri alienation
