Comments on: The Political Noose

By: Varna

Varna — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:47:46 +0000

@Saurabh, JhQuest and Harris,

There is no denying that Afzal is a renegade. Having said that the argument is merely this: That Afzal be allowed a fair trial, that death penalty be abolished (in his case too) since death penalty per se is immoral and inhuman. As far the question of being Kashmiri goes, I don’t believe that any judgement is fair unless it takes into account the context and circumstances that caused the crime. One cannot divorce history from action, especially in this case. That he is a Kashmiri does not preclude punishment, but it certainly merits special attention.

By: Harris

Harris — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:30:58 +0000

Hello Saurabh,

If I understood your first point correctly, you are making the argument that since the Indian constitution guarantees the right to equality before the law to all, in asking that he be tried at par with crimes committed by other Indians (letting the perpetrators of the Gujarat genocide go free for instance), we are ironically considering him an Indian; something that he ostensibly set out to resist in the first place?

I just want to submit that Article 14 in the Constitution gives the right to ‘all people’, not only to the citizens of the country.

Article 14: “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. “

By: JhQuest

JhQuest — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:12:21 +0000

Well said, though this whole Afzal issue is funny, I am unable to make my mind up either way. It is obvious to everyone that there was a mistrial, and the obvious way out would be to go back to the courts again and make sure Afzal gets a fair trial. Am sure the Prez can recommend this as part of the clemency plea. However, what do you do if the courts still find him guilty. I have always respected Yaseen Malik as a true voice of Kashmir but for once I do not find myself agreeing with him that Afzal should be pardoned, even if found guilty, just to make sure his hanging does not impact the ground situation in Kashmir. Have to agree with Saurabh that pardoning Afzal just because he is Kashmiri, is a mockery of the courts and the very process of democracy. I do not see any reason in that.

@ Anoop, I do not agree that “We are a nation of murderers”, quite the contrary in fact, that’s why we are here discussing this, unlike some states like Pakistan or DPR Korea.

I am for sure against the death penalty, but that means changing the constitution, however, until that is done, there is no reason why we should not stick to the current constitution, lets not confuse this with Afzal’s case.

In summary,
Send Afzal back to court, give him a fair trial.
Respect and follow what the courts say then.
Get rid of the death penalty.

PS: How will anything, let alone this kill democratic dissent, this would just make our resolve more stronger

By: varna

varna — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 18:00:25 +0000

@Saurabh

Looks like I would agree with your dad!

By: Saurabh Goswami

Saurabh Goswami — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:49:40 +0000

Liked the article, especially because yesterday was having a long argument with my dad (who is still a communist!!) and I was justifying to him why the death penalty should be there.
1. When we talk about equality before law, are we not saying that despite the fact that Afzal is a Kashmiri, he is an Indian and hence his trial should be at par with crimes committed by other Indians.
2. Are we saying that the courts of this country are false ? or that they are wrong ? If we are saying this, then we will have whole range of problems from water sharing between states(in which the court even now arbitrates) to the right to secede or plebiscite
3. The attack was on the parliament. Whatever the failings of our politicians (Although I beleive that we as a people are so power hungry and spineless, we deserve such kind of leaders ), the parliament is still the symbol of our democracy. And that Symbol has kept this nation intact. If we accept an attack on it, we are weakening the foundations of our nation (If we can call ourselves one)
4. How would killing afzal kill democratic dissent ? In fact Afzal was attacking the very symbol of democracy in this country. So by hanging him we are reaffirming the sanctity of our democracy (which unlike our neighbours has not fallen to the military-religious junta – atleast not yet)

By: R.Gopalakrishnan

R.Gopalakrishnan — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 09:28:50 +0000

Talking of evidence in the case of crime, there is irrefutable, self-proclaimed and massive evidence on the culpability of Narendra Modi, Praveen Togadia and their ilk in the crime of pogrom unleashed for weeks on Muslims in Gujarat but these people are not only free but are even in power in a corner of India and continue to proclaim their “patriotism” and “nationalism”! As long as this situation continues, irrespective of whether or not Afzal was guilty in terms of existing law, death sentence for him will only worsen matters. Of course, there is no denying the merit of the case for abolition of capital punishment in toto.

By: the Monk

the Monk — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 06:54:28 +0000

You raise good questions, comrade.

By: Anoop Saha

Anoop Saha — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:48:35 +0000

People of this country are angry with terrorism. What’s happenning is that the citizens want somebody to die, absolutely anybody. The precondition is he *must* be a muslim. If he is a Kashmiri, that is a bonus.

We are a nation of murderers.

By: Hiren

Hiren — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:32:09 +0000

If there is not sufficient evidence, then the death penalty is unjustified. As for corrupt people getting away, two wrongds do not make a right. One cannot afford to be soft against terrorism d if pardoned, he should be given lifetime imprisonment.