India parliament attack plotter hanged

President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a mercy petition from Mohammad Afzal Guru and he was hanged at 8 a.m. (0230 GMT) in Tihar jail in the capital, New Delhi. Security forces anticipating unrest had imposed a curfew in parts of insurgency-torn Kashmir and ordered people off the streets.

India blamed the 2001 attack on the parliament of the world’s largest democracy on militants backed by Pakistan, targeting the prime minister, interior minister and legislators in one of the country’s worst ever militant attacks.

Pakistan denied any involvement and condemned the attack but tension rose sharply and brought the nuclear-armed rivals dangerously close to their fourth war. Nearly a million soldiers were mobilised on both sides of the border and fears of war only dissipated months later, in June 2002.

The hanging was ordered less than three months after India executed the lone surviving gunman of a 2008 attack in the city of Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.

Saturday’s execution could help the ruling Congress party deflect opposition criticism of being soft on militancy, as it gears up for a series of state elections this year and a general election due by 2014, while grappling with an economic slowdown.

“Congress has decided to be more proactive in view of the elections, not only in terms of economic policy but also matters like the hanging of Afzal Guru,” said political analyst Amulya Ganguli.

“The Congress has now deprived the BJP of a propaganda plank,” he said, referring to the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Government officials dismissed suggestions that electoral politics played a role in the decision to execute Guru.

In major towns of Indian Kashmir, where security forces have battled a Muslim separatist insurgency for decades, barricades were erected and hundreds of police and paramilitary force members were deployed.

“The hanging of Afzal Guru is a declaration of war by India,” said Hilal Ahmad War, leader of a separatist faction.

Authorities shut down internet services and blocked social networking sites to try to stop unrest from spreading. The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, Omar Abdullah, made a televised appeal for calm.

Warning

Five militants stormed the heavily guarded parliament complex in New Delhi on Dec. 13, 2001, armed with grenades, guns and explosives, but security forces killed them before they could enter the main chamber. Ten other people, most of them security officers, were killed in the clash.

Guru, an Indian national, was convicted for helping organise arms for the attackers and a place for them to stay. He had denied any involvement in the conspiracy.

India said the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group was responsible.

The hanging last year of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani militant involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, after a long lull in executions, prompted speculation that India would move quickly to execute Guru.

But unlike Kasab’s execution, which sparked celebrations in the streets, Guru’s case was seen as more divisive.

Some Kashmiri leaders warned that hanging Afzal would fuel the revolt in India’s part of the Himalayan region in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since 1989.

Curfews were imposed in Srinagar, the region’s summer capital in the Kashmir valley, and major towns including Baramulla, Guru’s home town.

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Afzal Guru hanged outside his cell

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged on Saturday a few metres away from the Tihar Jail cell where he was lodged since 2001, said the jail’s Director General Vimla Mehra Saturday.

“He was hanged at 8 a.m. today (Saturday). He was lodged in special security jail number 3 and was hanged about 20 metres away from the cell,” Mehra said.

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Afzal’s family was informed about hanging: home secretary

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s family had been informed ahead of his hanging in Delhi’s Tihar jail Saturday morning, Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abullah was also kept in the loop about the hanging. “The chief minister was taken into confidence,” R.K. Singh told NDTV.

“The family was informed earlier. I checked from the jail authorities and they informed me that two letters had been sent by speed post. The DGP Kashmir was asked to crosscheck too. It is not correct that the family was not informed,” he said.

Guru, who was convicted of plotting the terror attack and was hanged at 8 a.m., is to be buried within the jail premises, as per the jail manual, added Singh.

“He will buried strictly according to the jail manual and according to the religious prescription,” he said.

The home secretary said he did not apprehend any law and order problems.

“We have no apprehensions about security problems.”

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Rethink death punishment: Activists

Human rights activists on Saturday urged the government to reconsider death penalty and said the hanging of Afzal Guru could have been handled better.

“I am one of those who are against death penalty irrespective of who is hanged,” former Delhi High Court chief justice judge Rajinder Sachar said.

“There should have been a decency about (today’s hanging),” he said. “He was not like Kasab (26/11 Mumbai attack convict)...He was an Indian.

Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), too urged the central government to have a rethink on capital punishment and wondered if Afzal Guru’s hanging had made India more secure.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said he was told about Afzal Guru’s imminent hanging the previous evening and told “to take steps to control the situation” in the state.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had Friday evening told the state government about the decision to hang the parliament attack convict, the chief minister told the media, and appealed for calm.

“In contrast to (JKLF chairman) Maqbool Bhat, there was no case against Afzal Guru in the state and as such the chief minister or the government did not have to sign his ... death warrant,”Abdullah said.

Bhat was hanged in 1984 in the Tihar Jail.

“Yesterday (Friday) at around 8 p.m. union home minister informed me that all legal formalities had been completed and it had been decided that Afzal Guru would be hanged at 8 a.m. tomorrow),” Abdullah said.

He said the state government had conveyed to the central government its apprehensions about the possible fallout of the hanging in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Curfew has been imposed as a preventive measure. The army has not been called out anywhere. The police and the CRPF are maintaining law and order,” he said.

Hailing the decision to hang parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan said Saturday that it was important to follow law and order.

“The law should be followed and respected by one and all. Whatever has been done, it has been done according to the law - whoever the accused may be -you, me or someone else,” the 70-year-old told reporters at his office.

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s family said they were not told in advance about his hanging on Saturday morning and want his body.

Yaseen Guru, a cousin of Afzal Guru, said on phone: “It is all rubbish that we were told before the execution... We came to know about it through the media.”

Yaseen said the family was not told that President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected his mercy petition.

“I can say with confidence that my brother (Afzal Guru) did not get a fair trial,” Yaseen added.

He said Afzal Guru’s wife Tabassum was in a state of deep shock. “All that she and the rest of the family now want is his body.”

Afzal Guru was woken up at 5 a.m. Saturday and he offered his prayers before calmly approaching the noose about three hours later, jail officials in Tihar Jail said.

He was buried after the hanging at 8 a.m. outside his cell in the jail. He had known since Friday evening what was in store, a source in the prison said while recounting his last hours.

“Since the deputy jailer came with the orders of hanging last (Friday) evening, Guru was aware of it. He was woken up at around 5 a.m. He offered namaz (prayers) after that and was really calm when approaching the gallows,”the source said.

“He was happy and healthy,” Tihar Jail Director General Vimla Mehra said.

“He was hanged at 8 a.m. (Saturday). He was lodged in special security jail number 3 and was hanged about 20 meters away from the cell,” she said.

“Before the hanging, a medical check-up was conducted on him and his health and blood pressure were normal.”

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Family not told about Afzal hanging: Geelani

Delhi University lecturer S.A.R. Geelani, who was acquitted in the parliament attack case, said Saturday that Afzal Guru’s family was not told about his hanging.

“Protocol was not followed. Even now the family has not been informed,”Geelani said.

“I woke her (Afzal Guru’s wife) up this morning at around 6.30-6.45 a.m. and informed her about rumours of the hanging. It was a shock to her. She was completely unaware and told me that none of the family members had been informed,” Geelani said.

Asserting that the family had a right to meet him for the last time, he said: “The family should have been informed that the mercy petition was rejected. Because even the rejection is subject to judicial review.”

“This is not democracy,” Geelani said, adding that he along with some human rights activists were planning the next step to protest the hanging.

Geelani had been arrested for being involved in the Dec 13, 2001, attack on parliament. But he was acquitted by the Supreme Court in October 2003.

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President rejected the Afzal’s mercy plea Feb 3: Shinde

President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru Feb 3 and he was hanged at 8 a.m. Saturday, said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

“Afzal Guru’s case was again sent to me by president when I took over as home minister. I examined it in detail and I recommended it to president on Jan 21 and the file came back to me from president on Feb 3,” Shinde told reporters here.

“It was sent for further execution by me on Feb 4 and the judiciary confirmed the date on Feb 8 and the time was also confirmed,” he said.

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Afzal Guru hanging no time for politics: R.P.N. Singh

The hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru is not a time for politics but calm and sobriety, Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh said Saturday.

“Afzal Guru was hanged this (Saturday) morning. This is not a time for politics but calm, restraint and sobriety,” R.P.N. Singh said on the microblogging site Twitter.

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Curfew in Kashmir Valley

Authorities imposed curfew here and all other major towns of Kashmir Valley Saturday following reports that Afzal Guru, convicted for his central role in the attack on the Indian parliament over 11 years ago, had been hanged in Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

Afzal Guru belongs to Tarzoo village on the outskirts of Sopore town, 52 km here.

Although no senior police officer confirmed that the curfew restrictions were being imposed in the wake of Afzal’s hanging, police officers, however, confirmed that curfew restrictions had been imposed.

Reports reaching here from district headquarters of Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Badgam, Kupwara, Ganderbal and the north Kashmir Sopore town said police and paramilitary forces were out in full riot gear there to impose curfew.

Reliable sources said all local cable operators have been asked to stop their operations with immediate effect.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is said to be flying back to Srinagar from winter capital Jammu. Omar Abdullah and his party, the ruling National Conference (NC), have opposed Afzal Guru’s hanging.

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Jammu on high alert following Afzal Guru hanging

A high alert was sounded in Jammu region on Saturday after parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in Tihar Jail was hanged in New Delhi, officials said.

“We have sounded high alert in the entire region and there is undeclared curfew in communally sensitive areas,” a senior police officer said. Amongst the sensitive areas are Kishtwar, Bhaderwah, Doda, Banihal, Poonch and Rajouri.

The administration has made heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces at vulnerable and sensitive areas while the army has been asked to be on stand by.

“There is no report of any untoward incident from any part of Jammu region so far,” the official said.

Afzal Guru, hailing from Sopore area of north Kashmir was hanged Saturday after sentenced to death for his central role in the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that almost led to a war between India and Pakistan.

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Victims families relieved after Afzal Guru hanging

Afzal Guru’s hanging should have come earlier but it was a welcome move, said the families of those who were killed in the 2001 parliament terror attack.

“We woke up to this news and we are very happy with the decision of the government. Though this should have been done earlier, it is a welcome move. Only the government can tell why there was a delay,” said Gautam Negi, the son of Matbar Singh Negi of parliament’s watch and ward staff who was killed in the attack.

“We are relieved now,” said Avdesh, whose wife Kamlesh Yadav was also killed in the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

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Afzal Guru hanging no time for politics: R.P.N. Singh

The hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru is not a time for politics but calm and sobriety, Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh said Saturday.

“Afzal Guru was hanged this (Saturday) morning. This is not a time for politics but calm, restraint and sobriety,” R.P.N. Singh said on the microblogging site Twitter.

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I think Afzal Guru was innocent, says Hamid Mir

Afzal Guru was “innocent”, said Pakistani journalist and TV anchor Hamid Mir after the man, convicted for his central role in the attack on the Indian parliament, was hanged in New Delhi on Saturday.

“...I think he was innocent but hanged in India,” tweeted Hamid Mir.

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BJP welcomes Afzal Guru’s hanging

The BJP onSaturday welcomed the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying “it was a right move”.

“We welcome the move. Though delayed, it was a right move. The opposition and the entire country was harping on the hanging of Afzal Guru,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.

“The entire country was waiting for this,” he said.

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged Saturday morning, days after President Pranab Mukherjee refused his mercy petition, officials said.

“Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 a.m.,” Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters.

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Afzal hanging better late than never: Modi

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was better late than never.

“Der aaye durast aaye (Better late than never),” Modi said on the microblogging site Twitter.

Afzal Guru was convicted for his role in the attack on Parliament in 2001. He was hanged Saturday morning in Tihar jail.

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Explain delay in hanging Afzal Guru: Venkaiah Naidu

The government should explain the “inordinate delay” in executing the death sentence against Afzal Guru, senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said Saturday. He added that the hanging of the parliament attack convict though belated was welcome.

Queried whether the government was acting now - hanging Guru and Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab - with an eye on the 2014 general elections, Naidu said: “Perhaps the government is acting now against the death convicts as it suffers from policy paralysis.”

“Whatever be the intention, the government has to explain the inordinate delay in the execution of Guru,” he said.

According to Naidu, such delays in executing court orders will boost the morale of the terrorists.