A senior official said trends in social media suggested that many young Muslim youths feel that hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon could have been avoided and that he was singled out because of his religion. “Guru’s family being deprived of his body was against the tenets of natural justice and undermined the constitutional principles of the country”.
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He said the system cannot differentiate based on biased presumptions and politics, and such glaring double standards between Yakub Memon’s and Afzal Guru’s cases highlighted the perception of discrimination among people of Kashmir. The pro-freedom Kashmiri groups said that the intelligence officers interrogating Yakub Mamon had although recommended that he should not be given capital punishment but by rejecting his mercy petition, the “communal and fascist” government of India has once again proved that there is no place for any mercy or sympathy with the Muslims in this country and hurting or harming them in any way is treated as service to the “national cause”.
He said that it is unfortunate that the NC, when in power, booked people and separatists and enforced curfew in the streets of Jammu and Kashmir when similar demand was being made for mortal remains. I think you have to understand this party is losing ground completely in Kashmir and whole of the state and they are frustrated. “Now the PDP is the coalition partner of the BJP which is also at the centre, the Cheif Minister should initiate steps so that the family gets the mortal remains”.
The NC chief spokesman revealed that party’s Working President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had written to the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh demanding return of mortal remains of Afzal Guru.
“It is not too late”.
Opposition National Conference who was in the power in the State when Guru was hanged in Tihar has also rallied behind PDP.
Congress MPs like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Shashi Tharoor have in the past argued that Afzal’s body should have been handed over to his family.
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The PDP leader said that it is unfortunate that NC politicizing the issue of death penalty and making separatist demand of bringing mortal remains.
