KL Report
SRINAGAR
Awami Ittihaad Party (AIP) while welcoming the commuting death punishment given to about 15 convicted persons to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court has clarified that the ugly face of Indian democracy stands exposed as the state has shown the double standards when it comes to Kashmir.
MLA Langate while addressing party workers in Srinagar said that though the wounds of hanging of Afzal Guru and Muqbool Bhat will never get healed but we still feel some satisfaction as hanging anybody anywhere under any circumstance is an absolutely inhuman and cruel act.
He said, “By commuting the death sentence of 15 persons who were on the death row and hanging Afzal Guru India has proved that it is not even ready to own Kashmiris as its third class citizens but has also proved that Kashmir can’t be India and India can’t be Kashmir. Let those Indians who count every atrocity on Kashmiris as an act of national interest, answer that why Afzal Guru was not allowed to file a review petition when his mercy petition was hurriedly and despite figuring at serial no. 20 in the list of death row prisoners, rejected by the president of India. Why couldn’t Afzal Guru’s death sentence be commuted on the same grounds on which death sentence of 15 persons has been commuted today. Why did Indian State turned so inhuman that it didn’t even handed over the dead body of Afzal to his family. These double standards are enough to claim that India neither cares for the sentiments of Kashmiri people nor wants to have a uniform yardstick for delivering justice. Today’s decision is a moral victory for Kashmiris in the long run as myth of India’s claims calling Kashmir as its integral part stands exposed.”
Rashid also reminded Kashmiri leaders that today’s Supreme Court verdict should be an eye opener for all the politicians claiming to represent sentiments of Kashmiri people in and outside assembly and said that Kashmiri leaders must understand that India does not take any Kashmiri leader seriously nor treats any one as a threat to its ill and vested designs, the reason being Kashmiris are a divided house. He further added that Kashmiri leaders should either understand their role, leave arrogance and ego, not over estimate themselves and must make a common minimum strategy to compel India for a durable solution to Kashmir problem or must close their ‘retail shops from Rajbagh to Gupkar’ and elsewhere.
