New Delhi: Will Mohammad Afzal Guru live to die another day? A day before the scheduled date of his hanging, that’s the big question everyone wants an answer to.
Nearly a fortnight after he was sentenced to death in the 2001 Parliament attack case, Afzal continues to remain the topic of a raging national debate across media and political spectrum.
While public opinion in the Kashmir Valley is strongly in favour of Afzal’s clemency - J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad even approached Prime Minister pushing for the same – India’s main Opposition party BJP is protesting fiercely against the mercy petition.
Those who favour Afzal’s execution are of the opinion that it would send out a signal that the country is not "soft" in dealing with terrorists and that no lenience should be shown to those involved in the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.
But the lobby favouring Afzal’s clemency is of the opinion that executing Afzal will make him a hero for centuries and will give separatists in the Valley fresh ammo to continue with their terror activities in India.
They are also of the opinion that 32-year-old Afzal was not given a fair trial. They say he was sentenced on the basis of circumstantial evidence and was not directly involved in the attack on Parliament.
So will Afzal’s fate be sealed on October 20?
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It seems unlikely as President A P J Abdul Kalam is yet to decide on a mercy petition filed by the condemned man's family.
After receiving the petition from the Rashtrapati Bhawan earlier this month, the Home Ministry initiated legal consultations on the plea so that it could give its opinion to the President.
According to legal provisions, a convict facing death sentence cannot be hanged till his or her clemency plea is rejected.
With no decision so far on the clemency plea, authorities in Tihar Jail, where Guru is being held, have put on hold arrangements for hanging him.
"We have been informed that Afzal's clemency petition is under consideration. We have not received any information to the contrary so far and so arrangements for the execution have been put on hold," a Tihar jail official said.
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