To hang him or not is the the question. Well again I will consider both sides of the coin and present my argument. Abhay Singh has argued for the capital punishment to be upheld. His arguments is that a heinous crime like the attack on the symbol of Indian democracy should be curbed with iron hands, hang Afzal!
Afzal’s crime goes beyond that line and calls for a highest deterrent punishment, which as per the Indian law, is death sentence. Don’t forget Afzal hasn’t committed an act of an individual’s murder, but that of conspiring to trespass and spill blood in the country’s supreme institution — the people’s Parliament. This is unpardonable.
Letting off Afzal will embolden those who have been misguided and supported by Islamic jehadis from across the border to wage a relentless war against India to force it to accede to their ultimate design. Granting clemency would be tantamount to giving in to the forces that have bludgeoned the nation and pushed the Valley into an endless vortex of terror and bloodletting.
I don’t endorse his views. He should be punished but not capital punishment for being a part of conspiracy. I advocate sternest of punishment for his involvement but not death. An eye for an eye and he didn’t take anyone’s eye. I do feel for the families who lost their dear ones. Many of them, mostly poor, lost their bread earners and it will not be fair on their part if Afzal is not subjected to sternest of punishment.
Fine now the other side of the coin. Is he really guilty? Inam ul Rehman has something interesting to say.
In fact, Afzal denied every aspect of his involvement in the conspiracy to which he had allegedly confessed earlier. “I had not identified any terrorist. The police told me the names of terrorists and forced me to identify.� Needless to say, Afzal also stated that the police made him sign a pre-written disclosure and confession; he also gave graphic details of the illegal procedure under which these were obtained
The defence of Mohammad Afzal, the key figure in the state-sponsored story of conspiracy, suffered the most. With great difficulty, Geelani’s defence managed to produce some witnesses; Afzal had none. He had no legal defence in the period between his arrest on December 15, 2001 and the filing of the charge sheet on May 14, 2005; in other words, no counsel had studied the complex case.
Grave, unanswered questions surround the Parliament attack case even after four judicial pronouncements. Who attacked the Parliament and what was the conspiracy? On what basis did the NDA government take the country close to a nuclear war? What was the role of the State Task Force (J&K) on surrendered militants? What was the role of the special cell of Delhi police in conducting the case?
It will be a travesty of justice to hang Mohammad Afzal without ascertaining answers to these questions. On October 20, they are not going to hang Afzal alone but with it they will also hang whatever little trust the Kashmiri people had in this judiciary; all to be hanged till death.
Lets imagine a court scene in which there is the advocate representing the state (A), the judge( J), Mohammed Afzal (M)and his so called defense lawyer (D).
J: Lets begin the proceedings (and please for God’s sake keep it short as I have already received the fax from the PM office regarding the final judgement and plus my today is my wedding anniversary…ah I even forgot the wedding gift)
As the judge was lost in thoughts A starts presenting his arguments.
A: I request the court to award death penalty to Afzal as his crime cannot be pardoned. The lives of august members of the Parliament were in danger and as he has confessed his crime,this leaves no doubt what so ever in anyone’s mind.
M: I object to this! I was forced to…..
The judge interrupts
J: Speak when you are allowed to. A, carry on.
A: I have nothing more to say. I think the court had enough of M’s plea of being guilty.
) he has all the time in the world to solve your problem, well only if you are a girl….he is one big crap guy (not exactly sure;) ) I have ever seen…