Jammu & Kashmir may go Tamil Nadu way to save Afzal Guru

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is thinking of going the Tamil Nadu way to save Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case, from the gallows.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid aka Engineer Rashid, Independent MLA from Langate, has submitted a resolution to the assembly secretariat seeking amnesty for Guru.

“We were asked to submit two resolutions. I have moved both and one of them seeks amnesty for Guru,” Rashid told DNA. “I hope it will be taken up during the next session, starting in the end of September.”

“We want a debate on the resolution and I hope chief minister Omar Abdullah will support it. His biggest test will be in the assembly.”

Omar on Tuesday had tweeted about TN assembly saying: “If J&K assembly had passed a resolution similar to the TN one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not.”

“I’m against the death sentence because you cannot reform society by killing people. Therefore, I do not want people to be killed,” Rashid said. Naem Akthar, spokesperson of PDP, the main opposition party in J&K, said the party had appealed to the president.

“We have stated out position. We have appealed to the president to pardon Guru,” Akhtar said.

Akthar said Omar was trying to wash his sins. “He [Omar] could not give justice to 120 people killed last year. Also, he is not clear in his tweet. Let him come clean. Let him make a recommendation in this regard.”

The BJP, however, made it clear that the party would oppose any move to save Guru. “Guru is a traitor… he has committed a crime and he needs to be punished according to the court verdict,” SS Manhas, J&K state BJP chief, said. “We will oppose any resolution in this regard.”

Read full report at
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_jammu-and-kashmir-may-go-tamil-nadu-way-to-save-afzal-guru_1582224

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