Non-resident Indians against clemency attempt for Afzal

Houston: The attempt by the secularist groups to plea for clemency for Mohd Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death for his role in the parliament attack is received by non-resident Indians with much resentment and deep-rooted anger. Any leniency in conducting his death sentence will send wrong signals to international community vis-s-vis India’s emergence as a super power in the few decades to come. Our image as a soft nation has to be torn apart by hanging the dreaded criminal Afzal and after years of suffering terrorism in silence, India will finally prove itself that nobody should play around with fire. This opinion is aired by a large number of NRI’s living in the US and several other countries.

When the law is supposed to be equal for all, how does mohd. Afzal become different from other criminals who are awaiting death sentence in various jails of India, asks Sriram Chauliya, a human-rights activist based in New York. When there are several persons waiting to be hanged on the death row, how can the special status of J & K be utilized for pleading for clemency in Afzal’s case. If Afzal is given clemency, others waiting death sentence should also be pardoned demanded Sriram Chauliya.

Rahul Pandit, the president of the Indo-American Kashmir Forum strongly criticized the stand of “human-rights activists” like Arundathi Roy and Medha Patkar asking for clemency for the terrorist who attacked the capital city. The plea for Afzal’s clemency by Gulam Nabi Azad, the CM  of J & K and other Muslim organisations is really distressing said Prof. Hari Dayal who is the founder of Indo-American Association of Houston and a Professor of preventive medicine.

The law should take its own course in the case of death row convict Afzal, says Vijay Saberwal who is an activist for Kashmiri Pundits Association based in US. 

Responses