Daily Times

The courts were acknowledged that Afzal was a surrendered militant who was in regular contact with the security forces, particularly the STF of Jammu and Kashmir police. How do the security forces explain the fact that a person under their surveillance was able to conspire in a major militant operation?

Is it plausible that organisations such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba or Jaish-e-Mohammad would rely on a person who had been in and out of STF torture chambers, and was under constant police surveillance, as the principal link for a major procedure?

On December 19 2001, six days after the parliament attack, Police commissioner SM Shangari identified one of the assailants who were killed as Mohammad Yasin Fateh Mohammed of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, who had been arrested in Mumbai in November 2000 and immediately handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir police. He made detailed descriptions to support his statement. If police commissioner Shangari was right, how did Yasin, a person in the custody of the Jammu and Kashmir police, end up participating in the parliament attack? On 4 August 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Afzal Guru.

The Home minister made his last recommendation to execute Mohammad Afzal Guru on 23 January 2013. On 3 February 2013, Mohammad Afzal Guru’s mercy petition was rejected by the President of India. He was hanged six days later on 9 February 2013.His body was buried within the precincts of Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Not just me but majority of the people condemn terrorist attacks on innocent people, whether they are attacked in Pakistan or India or anywhere in the world, but accusing Pakistan for any terrorist attack is not fair, it is only creating misconceptions and hate between the people of both countries

Human rights activists in several parts of India and the world demanded reprieve as they believe that the trial was flawed. Arundhati Roy castigated the trial and argued that Guru had been denied natural justice.

In an interview in 2006 with Vinod Jose, Guru said, if you want to hang me, go ahead with it, merely remember it will be a black spot on the judicial and political system of India.

Amnesty International condemned the execution saying that it indicates a disturbing and regressive trend towards executions shrouded in silence.

Omar Abdullah, the then chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir State, earned a special appeal on television for public calm. Authorities as well shut down cable TV and internet services to try to stop further news of the hanging and activists from organizing and spreading unrest.

The then Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the execution of Afzal Guru inside the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir region. The President said, the hanging of Afzal Guru through the misuse of judicial process has further aggravated and angered the people of Kashmir.

Second incident is quite recent, on 14 February 2019; a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel was rammed by a car carrying explosives. It caused a blast which killed 40 CRPF personnel of the 76th Battalion and injured many others.Adil Ahmad Dar, a 22-year old from Kakapora was identified the soul who carried the attack. According to Dar’s parents, Dar became radicalized after he was beaten by Indian police.Between September 2016 and March 2018, Adil Dar was arrested six times by Indian agencies. Nevertheless, each time he was released without any charges. Initial investigations indicated the car was carrying more than 300 kilograms of explosives, including 80 kilograms of RDX, a high explosive, and ammonium nitrate.

Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda is the former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian army’s Northern Command. He is most prominently recognized for his views on Kashmir with a strong emphasis on human rights. With a career spanning forty years, he has served on both the Northern and Eastern borders of India. Lt Gen Hooda initially said that it was not possible that they were smuggled from across the border.

Not just me but majority of the people condemn terrorist attacks on innocent people, whether they are attacked in Pakistan or India or anywhere in the world, but accusing Pakistan for any terrorist attack is not fair, it is only creating misconceptions and hate between the people of both countries.

My only concern is that for how long people of Kashmir Valley will suffer? People of Kashmir are under siege for the last seventeen days, we don’t know when their sufferings will end.

Do we?

The writer is a traveller and freelance writer based in UK