Afzal mercy as national discourse _ a national shame
Saturday October 7 2006 12:08 IST
By S Gurumurthy
Mohammad Afzal is now the new symbol of the seculars. Grant of pardon to him is their goal. Afzal is not just anti-national. He attempted to defy not just the law of crimes. He did not endeavour to defile the constitution just. He attempted to destroy it. He was a main conspirator in the attack on Indian Parliament in the year 2001. With Pakistan providing the attackers, he conspired to kill or take as hostage, the Prime Minister and other ministers and Parliament members.
Both Houses of Parliament were in session when Afzal and his co-criminals almost broke into it and nearly succeeded in his objective. What was the purport of this daring terror? If the Parliament were symbolic of the national pride and personality it was an attack on both. If the Parliament were symbolic of democracy, it was crime against democracy. If the seculars would regard the Parliament as a symbol of secularism Afzal attempted to wipe out that very icon of secularism. If the Parliament represented freedom and the rule of law in India he exerted to snuff both. This attack nearly brought India to war with Pakistan in the year 2002.
So his is no ordinary crime. He is a terrorist, not an ordinary criminal. He was sentenced to death by judiciary at all levels, and by the highest court finally. The judiciary did not endorse the prosecution version of the case. It had let go two other accused, Afsan Guru and S.A.R Geelani, a Delhi University academic, also charged as co-conspirators of Afzal for lack of evidence beyond doubt.
Despite the fact that while letting him off the apex court said that his conduct during the attack was `disturbing' and had raised `serious suspicion' about him, Geelani became a `secular' icon and he was taken around JNU and elsewhere to pontificate on the virtues of secularism! The very judiciary at the highest level has confirmed death penalty to Afzal. And yet today, the seculars, who swear by judicial verdicts when it suits them, are clamouring for mercy to Afzal almost implying that the Apex Court did injustice to him.
See how shameless the mercy theatre is. `The whole of Kashmir would be in flames,' warn the terrorists. `Don't execute him during the month of Ramzan,' plead others as if executing an anti-national terrorist is an affront to Islam. ``It would send a wrong message to the people,'' says the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. ``He was not given fair trial,'' charge the liberals. This after the Supreme Court has confirmed the due process and upheld the verdict!
Geelani, who the benevolent Court had mercifully let off, says sharing dais with the liberals that ``there was no direct evidence against Afzal, only circumstantial evidence.'' First year law students know that police cannot prove conspiracies by video recording and yet the secular media prominently carries Geelani's view that casts shadow on the apex court.
The secular parties and their MPs inside were shivering in toilets in the Parliament House when our soldiers were spilling their blood to save them. Now they are deafeningly silent when the pardon theatre is on. A national shame is being enacted in the national theatre and it is being televised and statements of neutrals, human rights activists and politicians are reported extensively. The photographs of the mother, wife and the child of Afzal are carried on the front pages of the media to promote sympathy for Afzal.
Afzal himself does not want mercy, says the family arrogantly. Yet, the family is petitioning for mercy. The secular chorus and the media pressure are so high that the usually composed President loses his composure, meets Afzal's family and even assures them that he would look into their case.
This is indeed unprecedented. How many such families pleading for pardon can future Presidents meet? If Presidents do not henceforth meet others, what would that mean? Would that not mean that Presidents would meet only the families of convicts who commit such high anti-national crimes?
The President must know or must have been advised that granting pardon is not a Presidential act. It is only the Cabinet, which, in effect, grants pardon and the President only signs just as he signs many other papers. A high national danger is being trivialised in the national discourse on secularism. The secular discourse is no more centred round concepts. It is becoming centred round criminals and terrorists.
When the Constitution came into being secularism meant state-neutrality towards religion, that is, the state should not discriminate between faiths. Then it degenerated to granting privileges and bounties to the minority. Later it was perverted to defending and protecting criminals and terrorists. Like the entire Kerala political spectrum unanimously commended parole for Abdul Madani who bombed and killed over 70 persons in Coimbatore. Like an acclaimed secular commentator in the visual media, wrote in print media, how a patriot _ yes patriot _ like Dawood Ibrahim, who bombed Mumbai and killed hundreds, was being persecuted in India! Now Dawood is declared as a global terrorist and the columnist is still among the most rated secular voices!!
Today secular discourse has shamed itself and shamed the country by coming in defence of a terrorist who bombed the very symbol of their ideal of secularism, the Parliament. It is national shame is that the issue of mercy to Afzal should have arisen first much less as part of the national discourse. Comment:gurumurthy@epmltd.com
Both Houses of Parliament were in session when Afzal and his co-criminals almost broke into it and nearly succeeded in his objective. What was the purport of this daring terror? If the Parliament were symbolic of the national pride and personality it was an attack on both. If the Parliament were symbolic of democracy, it was crime against democracy. If the seculars would regard the Parliament as a symbol of secularism Afzal attempted to wipe out that very icon of secularism. If the Parliament represented freedom and the rule of law in India he exerted to snuff both. This attack nearly brought India to war with Pakistan in the year 2002.
So his is no ordinary crime. He is a terrorist, not an ordinary criminal. He was sentenced to death by judiciary at all levels, and by the highest court finally. The judiciary did not endorse the prosecution version of the case. It had let go two other accused, Afsan Guru and S.A.R Geelani, a Delhi University academic, also charged as co-conspirators of Afzal for lack of evidence beyond doubt.
Despite the fact that while letting him off the apex court said that his conduct during the attack was `disturbing' and had raised `serious suspicion' about him, Geelani became a `secular' icon and he was taken around JNU and elsewhere to pontificate on the virtues of secularism! The very judiciary at the highest level has confirmed death penalty to Afzal. And yet today, the seculars, who swear by judicial verdicts when it suits them, are clamouring for mercy to Afzal almost implying that the Apex Court did injustice to him.
See how shameless the mercy theatre is. `The whole of Kashmir would be in flames,' warn the terrorists. `Don't execute him during the month of Ramzan,' plead others as if executing an anti-national terrorist is an affront to Islam. ``It would send a wrong message to the people,'' says the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. ``He was not given fair trial,'' charge the liberals. This after the Supreme Court has confirmed the due process and upheld the verdict!
Geelani, who the benevolent Court had mercifully let off, says sharing dais with the liberals that ``there was no direct evidence against Afzal, only circumstantial evidence.'' First year law students know that police cannot prove conspiracies by video recording and yet the secular media prominently carries Geelani's view that casts shadow on the apex court.
The secular parties and their MPs inside were shivering in toilets in the Parliament House when our soldiers were spilling their blood to save them. Now they are deafeningly silent when the pardon theatre is on. A national shame is being enacted in the national theatre and it is being televised and statements of neutrals, human rights activists and politicians are reported extensively. The photographs of the mother, wife and the child of Afzal are carried on the front pages of the media to promote sympathy for Afzal.
Afzal himself does not want mercy, says the family arrogantly. Yet, the family is petitioning for mercy. The secular chorus and the media pressure are so high that the usually composed President loses his composure, meets Afzal's family and even assures them that he would look into their case.
This is indeed unprecedented. How many such families pleading for pardon can future Presidents meet? If Presidents do not henceforth meet others, what would that mean? Would that not mean that Presidents would meet only the families of convicts who commit such high anti-national crimes?
The President must know or must have been advised that granting pardon is not a Presidential act. It is only the Cabinet, which, in effect, grants pardon and the President only signs just as he signs many other papers. A high national danger is being trivialised in the national discourse on secularism. The secular discourse is no more centred round concepts. It is becoming centred round criminals and terrorists.
When the Constitution came into being secularism meant state-neutrality towards religion, that is, the state should not discriminate between faiths. Then it degenerated to granting privileges and bounties to the minority. Later it was perverted to defending and protecting criminals and terrorists. Like the entire Kerala political spectrum unanimously commended parole for Abdul Madani who bombed and killed over 70 persons in Coimbatore. Like an acclaimed secular commentator in the visual media, wrote in print media, how a patriot _ yes patriot _ like Dawood Ibrahim, who bombed Mumbai and killed hundreds, was being persecuted in India! Now Dawood is declared as a global terrorist and the columnist is still among the most rated secular voices!!
Today secular discourse has shamed itself and shamed the country by coming in defence of a terrorist who bombed the very symbol of their ideal of secularism, the Parliament. It is national shame is that the issue of mercy to Afzal should have arisen first much less as part of the national discourse. Comment:gurumurthy@epmltd.com
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