Friends, The Pioneer article (4 May 2009) about Afzal Guru's mercy plea which quotes sources in the MHA having recently written to the Delhi govt to take a quick final decision on Afzal's wife Tabassum's petition pending with the government for the last three years is a step to be welcomed. There are different opinions on the efficacy and relevance of Death Penalty per se with completely divergent views armed with long lists of powerful arguments on each side. At the same time, not everyone is equally in agreement with the Delhi Police investigation in assistance with IB and other premier agencies as regards the Parliament attack case, where a section feels that Afzal Guru along with Geelani and others were wrongly framed in the case to hide their failure in getting at the real culprits. They quote the Supreme Court verdict which let off Geelani as a pointer in this direction, while others bank on the same case to argue their point by saying that the Supreme Court never found Geelani an innocent but released him only on certain technical grounds. Not going into either of the two contentious issues, which is bound to generate heat, I would limit myself to the mercy petition of Tabassum. This is a well-accepted fact that Afzal's wife gave a mercy petition to the President for granting pardon against the death penalty awarded to her husband. Again, no one disagrees that more than 3 years have elapsed since the petition was first presented. Everyone would equally agree that the Parliament attack was one of the worst and the most daring terrorist crimes committed in our country where the very fabric of Indian democracy was openly threatened and challenged. Hence the need for immediate and quick justice in the case. Again, we all know that there are certain set principles and guidelines as regards the Pardon cases which have been formulated and followed by the government agencies including the Ministry of Home affairs while deciding over these mercy petitions. When we all agree to these four basic premises, then why the delay? It is this aspect which makes this case bizarre and puts us in a precarious condition. We agree that this being a complicated case, it would have needed a deep study of the evidences and facts on either side before arriving at a final decision. But what amount of time was needed- three months, six months, a year? Or could it be three years? Can anyone believe that looking into the facts and taking a decision would need three years. Everyone understands that this sheer politics- that too in its worst form. Justice delayed is justice denied. Afzal is either an innocent or an accused. release him if the evidence shows this way or hang him if he seems to the perpetrator of this dastardly crime. But, on what authority and by what moral basis do we keep a person waiting for eternity as regards the final judgement regarding his death warrant? Can there be a worst form of torture? Is this not a case where the basic Human dignity and Fundamental rights of a person are being openly flouted? the reason for this- votes. Congress wants the minority votes and wants to keep this issue in limbo. BJP wants the Hindu votes and wants to see Afzal hanged on the gallows. None of the two is interested in justice and the merits of the case. I and you, as the common people of this nation, only want that the government takes a decision whichever way it thinks the evidences and facts point out to and then go ahead to execute it. All the precaution it needs to take is to base the decision purely on merit and not on any extraneous factors and then let the country know about the factors which finally decided the matter. Afzal in jail, waiting for a decision, is the worst picture that we can produce. It appeases neither the Muslims nor the Hindus, neither the Left nor the Right, neither the Human right activists nor the hawks. Let the country save us from this indecisiveness.
Dr Nutan Thakur IRDS 5/426, Viram Khand, Gomti Nagar Lucknow
