On this date, 9 February 2013, a Terrorist, Afzal Guru was executed by hanging at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. He was involved in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. He now belongs to The Legion of Doom: The 13 Dead Terrorists.
Mohammed
Afzal Guru
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Born
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1969
near Sopore, Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
Died
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February 9, 2013 (Age 43)
Tihar Jail, Delhi, India |
Cause of death
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Executed by hanging
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Resting place
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Tihar jail
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Nationality
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Indian
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Known for
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his conviction and execution in the 2001 Indian
Parliament attack and his appeal in his capital punishment case.
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Criminal charge
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2001 attack on the Parliament of India
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Criminal penalty
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Death sentence
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Criminal status
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Executed by hanging at 8:00 am (IST) on 9 February
2013
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Spouse(s)
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Tabasum Guru
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Parents
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Habibullah (father) and Ayesha Begum (mother)
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Conviction(s)
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Murder
Conspiracy Waging war against India Possession of explosives |
Mohammad Afzal Guru (1969 - 9 February 2013), an Indian national, was convicted by Indian court for the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, and sentenced to death by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act Court in 2002. The Delhi High Court confirmed the judgment in 2003 and his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of India in 2005. The Supreme Court did not find any evidence as to his membership to any terrorist organisation but stated that the circumstances clearly established that Guru was associated with the deceased terrorists in almost every act done by them in order to achieve the objective of attacking the Parliament and there was sufficient and satisfactory circumstantial evidence to establish that he was a partner in the conspiracy. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006, but Guru was given a stay of execution after protests in Jammu and Kashmir and remained on death row. On 3 February 2013, his mercy petition was rejected by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. He was secretly hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail around 08:00 am on 9 February 2013 and afterward buried inside jail grounds in Operation Three Star. His family was not informed prior to execution and his dead body was later denied to his family, while his execution resulted in violent protests across the Kashmir region.
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| Afzal Guru |
Early
life
Guru
was born in Du Aabgah village near Sopore town in the Baramulla district of
Jammu and Kashmir in 1969 to the family of Habibullah. He completed his
schooling from Government School, Sopore. He passed the matriculation exam in
1986 and completed his higher secondary education in Sopore. He subsequently
enrolled in medical college. He had completed the first year of his MBBS course
and was preparing for competitive exams.
Training
His
native place is Sopore and he was doing a commission agency business. It was
during this business venture that he came into contact with Tariq of Anantnag,
who motivated him to join Jihad for the liberation of Kashmir. He crossed the
Line of Control and proceeded to Muzaffaraba Pakistani occupied kashmir. He
became a member of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and then returned to Sopore
shortly afterward to lead 300 rebels. On a visit to Kashmir in 1998, he married
a Baramulla native Tabasum. He did odd jobs and completed his graduation from
Delhi University in the year 1993–94. While studying, he met SAR Geelani, who
was pursuing his post graduation course. In the summer of 1993–94 on the advice
of his family, he surrendered to the Border Security Force and returned to
Delhi where he worked till 1996. He took up a job with a pharmaceuticals firm
and served as its area manager. Simultaneously, he worked as a commission agent
for medical and surgical goods in the year 1996. During this period, he used to
shuttle between Srinagar and Delhi.
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Executed: Mohammed Afzal Guru, pictured here
in 2002, was hanged this morning. Amnesty International questioned whether he
had received a fail trial and his family had not been informed (PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/mostread/article-2276108/Mohammed-Afzal-Guru-India-hangs-Kashmiri-separatist-convicted-2001-attack-New-Delhi-parliament-building.html#axzz2KSk9hvyI)
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The
case
The
13 December 2001 attack was conducted by the Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JEM), although the Indian government also accused the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LET) of involvement. Seven were killed by the attackers, including 6 Indian
security and a gardener, and 15 others were injured. The five unidentified
attackers were also killed. At the end of December, US President George W. Bush
made a telephone call to Pakistan President President Pervez Musharraf and
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to defuse tensions between the two
countries and urge them to move away from escalating the Parliament attack into
war.
On
15 December 2001, Guru was arrested by Delhi Police from Jammu and Kashmir, and
from December 2001 to May 2002, Guru had no lawyer. SAR Geelani, an Indian
educator, was picked up for questioning and was later arrested from Delhi. Two
others – Afsan Guru and her husband Shaukat Hussain Guru—were picked up later.
On 29 December 2001, Guru was sent to 10-day police remand. The court appointed
Guru his first lawyer, Seema Gulati, three days after he was initially charged
14 May 2002. She was same lawyer who later represented SAR Geelani, but in a
paid capacity, and she dropped Guru's case after 45 days because of her case
load. In June 2002, charges were filed against all four of them.
Confession
The
evidence against Guru included his confessional statement, which was recorded
by the DCP, Special Cell. It was recorded in the preamble of the confession
that DCP had asked the policemen present there to leave the room. The signature
of Guru was found beneath that endorsement. The Supreme Court was angered by
the act of police officials, who, in their over-zealousness, had arranged for a
media interview. However, after seven months, Guru disowned this confession and
the Supreme Court did not accept the earlier confession as an evidence against
him.
Sushil
Kumar, Guru's advocate later claimed that Guru had written a letter to him
where Guru said that he had made the confessions under duress as his family was
being threatened. Journalist Vinod K. Jose claimed that Guru had told him in an
interview in 2006, Guru had said that he had been subjected to extreme torture
which included electric shocks in private parts and being beaten up for hours
along with threats regarding his family after his arrest. Between the time of
his arrest and the time when initial charges were filed, Guru was told that his
brother was held in detention. At the time of his confession, he had no legal
representation.
Charges
Following
were the charges against Guru:
- Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India and Conspiracy to commit the same – Section 121 and 121A of the Indian Penal Code
- Collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war against the Government of India – Section 122 of the Indian Penal Code.
- Criminal conspiracy to commit murder and attempt to commit murder – Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 of the Indian Penal Code
- Conspiring to commit and knowingly facilitating the commission of a terrorist act or acts preparatory to terrorist act and also voluntarily harbouring and concealing the deceased terrorists knowing that such persons were terrorists and were the members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, a banned terrorist organisation, which is involved in acts of terrorism; and hence committing an offence punishable under Section 3(3) (4) and (5) of Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002.
- Possession of
10 Lakhs given to him by the
terrorists who were killed by the police when they attacked the Parliament
of India.
Eighty
witnesses were examined for the prosecution and ten were examined for defence.
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Afzal Guru
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Conviction
On
18 December 2002, a death sentence was given to Guru, S A R Geelani and Shaukat
Hussain Guru, while Afsan Guru was let off. In August 2003, Jaish-e-Mohammed
leader Ghazi Baba, who was a prime accused in the attack was killed in an
encounter with the Border Security
Force (BSF) in Kashmir Capital, Srinagar. Three other militants,
along with him were also killed in the 10-hour encounter. In October 2003, on
an appeal, Delhi High Court upheld the order.
The
judgment mentions:
"The gravity of the crime conceived by the conspirators with the potential of causing enormous casualties and dislocating the functioning of the Government as well as disrupting normal life of the people of India is something which cannot be described in words. The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender."
On
19 December 2001 he made a confession of the offences, which was recorded and
signed by him. He also confirmed having made the confessional statement without
any threat or pressure. However in his 10 year long imprisonment he refuted the
involvement in attack several times and claimed that the confession was made
under pressure and threats to his family. In his letter to India, he mentioned
that he was innocent and had no role in any attack. His letter mentioned that
he is a pious Muslim and does not support killing of innocents. in his one
letter to Indian media he request the journalist to publish his statement,
however the statement came to light only after his execution. The letter talked
about Delhi High Court bomb blast and claimed it to be the act against the
principles of Islam. He also refuted that he had to play any role in it.
However,
he was convicted for the offenses under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B
read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120B IPC, sub-Sections (2),
(3) & (5) of Section 1, 3(4), 4(b)of POTA and Sections 3 & 4 of
Explosive Substances Act. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many
as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act
in addition to varying amounts of fine.
An
appeal was made to the Delhi High Court, but after going through the case and
taking into consideration various authorities and precedents, the Court found
that the conviction of Guru was correct and hence his appeal was dismissed. The
co-accused in the case, SAR Geelani and Afsan Guru (wife of, were acquitted by
the High Court 29 October 2003. On 4 August 2005, the Supreme Court, upheld the
death sentence for Afzal Guru while it commuted Shaukat Hussain Guru's sentence
from death to 10 years imprisonment. Of the three sentenced to death, SAR
Geelani (who was presented as the mastermind behind the attack), Shaukat
Hussain Guru and Afzal Guru, only Afzal Guru's penalty was upheld by the
Supreme Court.
In
October 2006, Guru's wife Tabasum Guru filed a mercy petition with then
President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. In June 2007, Supreme
Court dismissed Guru's plea seeking review of his death sentence, saying
"there is no merit" in it. In December 2010, Shaukat Hussain Guru was
released from Delhi's Tihar Jail due to his good conduct.
In
its judgement, the Supreme Court observed:
"As criminal acts took place pursuant to the conspiracy, the appellant, as a party to the conspiracy, shall be deemed to have abetted the offence. In fact, he took active part in a series of steps taken to pursue the objective of conspiracy."Supreme Court of India, Judgement on Appeal by Guru on August 5, 2005.
The
Supreme Court observed that mostly, the conspiracies are proved by the
circumstantial evidence. It held that the circumstances detailed in the
judgment clearly established that Guru was associated with the deceased
militants in almost every act done by them in order to achieve the objective of
attacking the Parliament House. It also observed that there was sufficient and
satisfactory circumstantial evidence to establish that Guru was a partner in
this conspired crime of enormous gravity. It has to be noted, that in its
judgement of 5 August 2005, the supreme court admitted that the evidence
against Guru was only circumstantial, and that there was no evidence that he
belonged to any terrorist group or organisation. He was subsequently meted out
three life sentences and a double death sentence.
Clemency
pleas
There
was an appeal to issue clemency to Guru from various human rights groups
including political groups in Kashmir, who believe that Guru did not receive a
fair trial and was framed by corrupt police and the victim of inefficient
police work. Human rights activists in various parts of India and the world
have demanded reprieve as they believe that the trial was flawed. Arundhati Roy
and Praful Bidwai castigated the trial and argued that Guru has been denied
natural justice. Accusations of human rights violations have been made by many.
Former
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and local political
groups voiced their support of clemency for Guru . It was alleged many have
done so to appease Muslim voters in India. However there were protests (with
instances of stone pelting at Indian security forces) in Kashmir against the
planned execution of Guru in 2006.
Communist
Party of India (Marxist) was critical of both the Congress as well as of the
BJP, and claimed it was delaying the legal procedure in the case accusing it of
trying to whip up enmity between communities in the name of a crime done by a
group of criminals. The party wants the law of the land to take its course
without any interference.
Ram
Jethmalani held that it is completely within the president's power to commute
the Death sentence and is not a mercy plea. He said, "It’s a misnomer to
call it a mercy petition. It leads to total misunderstanding of the
constitutional power. The constitutional power is that the president has the
power to disagree with the Supreme Court both with its findings of fact and
law." The case became political and it was not carried out because of fear
of revenge attacks. The Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party president
and MP, Mehbooba Mufti commented that the Centre should pardon Afzal if
Pakistan accepted the clemency appeal for Sarabjit Singh.
However,
the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front
Chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta urged the President of India not to accept
any clemency pleas on Afzal's behalf. He warned that his organisation would
launch agitations if Afzal was pardoned. He also criticised statements of
various political leaders and blamed them for "encouraging activities of
terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir".
An
India Today poll in late October showed that 78% of Indians supported
the death penalty for Afzal.
On
12 November 2006, the former Deputy Prime Minister of India, Lal Krishna Advani
criticised the delay in carrying out the death sentence on Guru for the
Parliament terror attack, saying, "I fail to understand the delay. They
have increased my security. But what needs to be done immediately is to carry
out the court's orders".
The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) severely criticised Arundhati Roy. BJP
spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said:
"Those who are supporting Afzal by demanding that he should not be hanged are not only acting against public sentiment in the country but are giving a fillip to terrorist morale"
On
23 June 2010, the Ministry of Home Affairs recommended the president's office
to reject the mercy petition. On 7 January 2011, a whistle-blowing site
indianleaks.in leaked a document which stated that the mercy petition file was
not with President of India. This was rubbished by Kapil Sibal in an interview
with NDTV.
This was confirmed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi on 23 Feb 2011.
With the death penalty handed to Ajmal Kasab, the speculation was that Guru was
next in line.
On
10 August 2011, the home ministry of India rejected the mercy petition, and
sent a letter to the President of India recommending the death penalty.
On
7 September 2011, a high intensity bomb blast outside Delhi high court killed
11 people and left 76 others injured. In an e-mail sent to a media house
Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, an Islamic fundamentalist organisation, owned
responsibility for the attack and claimed the blast was carried out in
retaliation to Parliament attack convict Guru's death sentence.
"We own the responsibility for today's blasts at Delhi high court. Our demand is that Mohammed Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major high courts and the Supreme Court of India."
Later
on Afzal Guru in his letter declared the attack on Delhi High Court that killed
11 Indians against the principles of Islam and refuted all allegations with the
attack.
Execution
On
16 November 2012, the president had sent seven cases back to the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA), including Afzal Guru's. The president requested Sushil
Kumar Shinde, home minister, review the opinion of his predecessor, P.
Chidambaram. On 10 December, Shinde indicated he would look at the file after
the winter session of the Parliament was finished on 20 December. Shinde made
his final recommendation to execute Guru on 23 January 2012. On 3 February
2013, Guru's mercy petition was rejected by the President of India.
Afzal
Guru was hanged six days later on 9 February 2013 at 8 am. Jail officials have
said that when Guru was told about his execution, he was calm. He expressed his
wish to write to his wife. The jail superintendent gave him a pen and paper. He
wrote the letter in Urdu, which was posted to his family in Kashmir the same
day. Very few officers were told about the decision. Three doctors and a maulvi,
who performed his last rites, were informed secretly a night before. They were
asked to come early Saturday morning. Guru performed his morning prayers and
read a few pages of the Quran. Guru's letter was delivered to his family on 12
February. The execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru was named Operation Three Star.
Guru's
family was informed of his execution two days after by a letter sent through
Speed Post, a fast courier service, to their home in Sopore. Postal officials
in Srinagar said the letter was received on Saturday evening of 9 February, but
could be delivered only on Monday, or 11 February, because Sunday was a public
holiday.
Aftermath
of execution
The
secret operation surrounding the execution of Afzal Guru was code named
Operation Three Star. The prison took steps to execute Guru in secrecy. The
execution was carried out without the family's knowledge or any form of public
announcement. Guru's body was buried on prison grounds to prevent a public
funeral. On a national level, security was prepared beforehand for public
protests. After Guru's execution, a curfew was then imposed by the authorities
when the news became public in Kashmir to prevent any kind of protests in
support of Guru. State-run media Doordarshan announced the execution on the
morning of 9 February, and Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir
state, made a special appeal on television for public calm. Authorities also
shut down cable TV and internet services to try to stop further news of the
hanging and activists from organizing and spreading unrest. Mosques throughout
the region were used for public announcements and curfew information. SAR
Geelani, who was co-accused in the attacks on the Indian parliament and later
acquitted by the Supreme Court, was taken into preventive custody by the Delhi
Police. Several leaders from the separatist movement were also detained.
However, protests flared up in parts of the Valley—Guru's hometown of Sopore,
Baramulla in North Kashmir and Pulwama in South Kashmir—and groups of young men
broke curfew and threw stones at security forces. Police fired at protesters,
and 36 people were injured, including 23 policemen, said a police spokesperson,
particularly around Guru's home district where most of the violence was
concentrated.
Involved
parties
In
an interview in 2006 with Jose, Guru said, "If you
want to hang me, go ahead with it, but remember it would be a black spot on the
judicial and political system of India."
In
the letter written before his death, Guru wrote, "I
am about to be hanged. Now, near the gallows, I want to tell you (family
members) that I was not given enough time to write a detailed letter. I am
thankful that Allah (God) chose me for this sacrifice. And please, take care of
Tabasum and Galib."
SAR
Geelani condemned Afzal Guru's hanging was a "cruel and politically
motivated gimmick" and a “politically motivated decision."
Justice
SN Dhinga, the Judge who sentenced Guru and co-accused Shaukat Guru and SAR
Geelani to death in 2002, termed the execution a political move stating that
the judiciary took just three years to decide the matter while the executive
took eight years to implement the same.
International
human rights groups
Amnesty
International condemned the execution saying that it 'indicates a disturbing
and regressive trend towards executions shrouded in secrecy'. Shashikumar
Velath, Programmes Director at Amnesty International India said "We
condemn the execution in the strongest possible terms. This very regrettably
puts India in opposition to the global trend towards moving away from the death
penalty”.
Pakistan
In
April 2013, 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 abuse of judicial process has
further aggravated and angered the people of Kashmir."
Political
parties
Most
political parties with exception of Kashmiri politicians welcomed the move by
the Government of India. The BJP stated that it was a correct move albeit very
late. It also stated that the public opinion forced Afzal Guru's hanging.
A
leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra
Modi, tweeted "better late than never" after the news of Guru's
execution by hanging had been announced. Modi had been previously been critical
of the government for delaying Guru's execution after the Supreme Court's final
decision.
Jammu
and Kashmir People's Democratic Party spokesman Naeem Akhtar also criticised
Guru's burial inside the prison complex in New Delhi, saying the body should
have been given to his family in Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference
announced a four-day mourning on the death of Guru. The Prime Minister of Azad
Kashmir, announced three day mourning and the Kashmir flag waved at half mast.
Jammu
and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has been highly critical about Afzal
Guru's hanging. He said the "biggest tragedy" of the execution was
that he was not allowed to meet his family before he was hanged. He also
suggested that the Centre was "selective" in avenging attacks on
symbols of democracy and backed the allegation that the legal process in the
Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru's case was "flawed".
Omar
Abdullah’s father, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Union minister
Farooq Abdullah said: "Afzal Guru’s mercy petition was put before the
President. He rejected it. The matter is over."
Legal
experts
The
Hindu published in an article by Praveen Swami where he mentioned that legal
experts have cast no small doubt on whether Guru received a fair trial, whether
his guilt was proved and whether his death penalty was legitimate. It was cited
that the debates on this case had engaged some of India’s finest legal minds
for months, both on the side of the state and defence. In Praveen Swami's view
"The Supreme Court’s word is not, and ought not to be, the final word.
Indeed, the deep ambiguities that surround Guru’s case are in themselves
compelling argument to rethink the death penalty."
The
press
Although
the Press in India has been supportive of Guru's hanging, a section of the
press raised apprehension on the manner in which the execution was carried out.
In particular, the Times of India pointed out that since assumption of office
as president Pranab Mukherjee turned down three clemency petitions – Ajmal Amir
Kasab, Afzal Guru and Saibanna Ningappa Natekar. Times of India highlighted the
possible dilution of the due process evident from the government's failure to
comply with the stipulation of the jail manual to inform Guru's family about
the date of the execution. The compromise is more evident in Guru's case
because, unlike Kasab, his family members are Indians, who live in Kashmir. The
rationale behind this stipulation is to provide the convict a chance to meet
his family members for the last time. However in a different article, Times of
India also noticed that "There's no doubt, therefore, that the crime of
which Afzal has been convicted falls in the "rarest of rare" category.
In the event he's gone through due process, as exemplified in the acquittals or
lesser sentencing of all three of his co-accused through various stages of the
judicial process, depending on quality of evidence. Once the president rejected
his mercy petition the government had no option but to carry out the death
sentence."
However
in an article, it was observed in The Hindu that though judicial determination
will – and ought to be – subjected to continued critical scrutiny but there is
nothing to show the judicial system was blind to Guru’s legal rights. The
article also criticised the journalists and political leaders of 'a certain
kind' for not dealing with the "full truth".
Victims'
families
The
families of victims of the 2001 parliament attack said that they will write to
president Pranab Mukherjee to get back the bravery awards returned by them
earlier. The families had earlier returned the medals to protest the delay in
hanging.
Home
minister
Indian
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that Afzal Guru's family was informed
about the hanging decision on time. But the family was not aware of Guru's
hanging since the Speed post letter sent by the tihar jail authorities
regarding the hanging of Afzal reached his family 2 days after his hanging. He
defended the secrecy government maintained in the execution saying that it
would not have happened had the decision been made public in advance. He also
denied the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's charge that he was
kept in the dark about the Centre's decision to hang him. He said: "I
personally informed Omar about the execution. Also, the family of Afzal Guru
was informed on the night of February 07." Asserting the need to maintain
secrecy, Shinde said, "This, as Ajmal Kasab's case, was extremely sensitive,
government had to be very careful. Secrecy has to be maintained in such
cases." He also picked holes in Omar Abdullah’s assertion that Parliament
attack convict Guru’s hanging was "out of turn."
Lawyers'
resignation
On
13 February, few days after Guru's execution, lawyers N D Pancholi and Nandita
Haksar withdrew as his family's counsel, citing "unseemly
controversies" and "suspicion" by certain political groups in
Kashmir. Without elaborating on the immediate reasons for their decision they said
that in Kashmir some political groups feel that there offers of solidarity and
friendship with suspicion.
Handing
over body
Guru
's wife, Tabasum, had sought to claim his body which was buried in the Tihar
Jail. However citing the jail manual, central government is likely to reject
the same. Delhi Jail manual provides that the body may not be transferred to
the family/friends "if there are grounds for supposing that the prisoner's
funeral will be an occasion for a demonstration".
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| PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/afzal-guru-a-chronology-of-events/article4396402.ece |
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