| NC-PDP on same page, demand mortal remains of Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat | | | Saahil Suhail
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 11: On the 35th hanging anniversary of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Leader Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, valley centric political parties-National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party-echoed in same tune and demanded mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Bhat.
Peoples Democratic Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, Fayaz Ahmad Mir wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding mortal remains of Guru and Bhat who are buried in Tihar jail.
"In the remote village of Seerjageer, Sopore lies a tombstone of Mohammed Afzal Guru, without his mortal remains, standing there awaiting the magnanimity of this country, that may one day find it right to return Afzal Guru's body to his family which lies buried in a corner in Tihar jail", the letter reads.
Calling capital punishment unconstitutional, Mir said that all ideological groups in the country have voiced against it and it has been called out for its huddled and secretive manner.
"Our late Patron, Mufti Mohammed Saeed, vide his letter dated February 26, 2013 had written to the then PM Mr. Manmohan Singh ji, vehemently arguing the need to return the mortal remains of Afzal Guru to his family. In his considered opinion, Mufti Saab had highlighted the importance of this step in that it would not only reduce the pain of Guru's family but also open the way for some rebuilding of bridges at the psychological level between Kashmir and rest of the country", Mir wrote in his letter.
National Confrence leader, Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri, who heads party in South Kashmir, told Early Times that his party also demands return of mortal remains of Guru and Bhat.
"Not only of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat, we also demand that mortal remains of Yousuf Shah Chak be handed over," Veeri said, however slammed PDP for using this issue to secure political points.
'I would like to advise PDP to stop befooling people of state. You partnered with BJP and you are still with them, if you have guts bring back their remains else stop this drama of writing letters," he added.
Yousuf Shah Chak was a ruler of Kashmir. He was successor of his father Ali Shah Chak and ruled Kashmir from 1579 to 1586 AD. Mughals jailed him in Bengal and later shifted him to Bihar where he died. His grave remains in Bihar and it was recently in news. |
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