An Undeclared Murder

ABDUL WAJID


Feb 9^th 2013, another day added to the bloody red letter figures of Kashmir.  #AfzalGuru hanged!  The mournful news welcomed the wintry cold morning in the most unwelcoming way. Ears couldn’t believe what was aired to them and protested back in surprise.

As the news broke, around 8:30 am, an “undeclared curfew” was clamped down over the entire valley only to ensure people’s obvious reaction is confined only to “online” reactions and not the street wars of retaliation and tribulations.

Well, for most of my Indian and “Indianised” peers, I may sound radical to question the hanging of #AfzalGuru. But I do not blame them for their obvious nationalistic reaction.  I appreciate their patriotic romanticism. They are simply credulous lambs who are simply digesting the feeds their TV channels and media is feeding them with. They are too busy to dig into reality. They fear a bearded man with a skull cap for obvious reasons. And now when Kashmir is protesting for the hanging they feel otherwise. They feel dejected for our non-Indian habits. However, following is an attempt to correct them and  elucidate my point which I hope finds some buyers.  

Well kashmiris don’t shout without a reason. We too have reasons to protest and to speak for the truth. And in case of #AfzalGuru I find many reasons to correct my dear Indian and “Indianised” peers and justify the anger and the sadness that is engulfing the valley following todays bluder.

·     

  

•      Firstly we cannot compare the case of Afzal Guru with that of Ajmal kasab or Osama Bin Laden or any engineered XYZ terrorist. We simply cannot take an “accused” same as a “terrorist” and take him to gallows. We cannot consider a “suspect” as a “culprit” for the same reason. To be noted
  #AfzalGuru was reportedly a suspect and NOT a culprit.

• ·   Secondly #AfzalGuru was deprived of a fair trial, as reported. He had no lawyer to put out his version or help him sift through the tangle of lies and fabrications and propaganda put out by the police. This raises the questions about how Afzal, who never had proper legal representation, can be sentenced to death without having had an opportunity to be heard, without a fair trial.

• ·   Thirdly there is no consistency in the police statements claiming Guru to be a terrorist. Pertinently there have been many cases of fabrications  in which many accused were acquitted by the court, lately after proven innocent and after wasting their precious years.  
•  
•     Also there are statements that say Afzal accepted the charges against him in media under stress out of the extreme police torture and inhuman interrogation.   

• ·   Afzal Guru was hanged more for political reasons than for justice. The present Indian government was more desperate to brag about its stand on anti-terrorism and #AfzalGuru was just a scapegoat. He was more like a sacrificial goat to start a new journey of captivating the coming vote bank. He was hanged by India only to satisfy a ‘collective dead conscience’ of a nation.
•     Lastly,  by hanging #AfzalGuru secretly so that he could not approach the courts, and ignoring the pending case that could have affected his sentence, and finally not intimating his family about his execution, the Home Minister acted illegally
   

Meanwhile when the whole Indian Nation is busy with their sponsored celebrations, Kashmir is mourning the murder of another great son. Heart beats are at halt, wailing for the abortion of justice. Streets are full with men in uniform patrolling the emptiness. The ding dong battles are on elsewhere. Mosques are heralding the Gayibana Jinaza  (Prayers in Absentee) and much similar Azadi reverbrations.  Mobile internet is barred all across the valley fearing the black banners that go rampant over the social networking sites protesting the bungle. TV Cable is also debarred and later filtered to telecast only the lulling tracks to lull the mourners. In no time the so called leaders and their armchair critics appear from nowhere to cook their rhetoric speeches, Hartal calls and other political lingos. And finally the Media rejoices the biggest share of the pie by captivating the news for the next few days.

P.S 

Well I am not delivering a hate speech here but my attempt is only to wake the people in slumber who are unaware of the blunder done today by the largest democracy of the world.  With the hanging of Guru, India has strangulated its lasting hopes to win the hearts of a common Kashmiri. Today it was not just a murder of the Kashmiri sentiments; it was more a suicide by Indian democracy.  My dear Indian and “Indianised” friends, make a good note of this.

At last the Indian Government itself testified to a saying of a veteran writer and journalist, Ambrose Bierce who said: “Appeal in law means to put the dice into the box for another throw.”  

References :

• India's shame by Arundhati Roy   
• A perfect day for democracy(HINDU) The disturbing Truth(HINDU)  
• Stain On Indian Democracy 
• JTSA compilation exposes tales of framed innocent Kashmiris by kashmirtimes
• 2 facing death freed in Lajpat Nagar blast case by indianexpress
• Afzalhanged for India’s dead ‘collective conscience’ Author:Saadut
• 'Afzal Guru's trial was a sham, his hanging is a shame'  By Newzfirst
• Shehla Rashid Online