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| Shinde's firm "NO" to demand for Guru's body | | | The Government of India seems to have
taken shelter under the jail manual while
dropping clear hints about its unwillingness to return Afzal Guru's body to his family members.Guru had been sentenced to death on charge of his involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack.After his execution on February 9 his body was buried within the premises of Tihar jail in Delhi.And initially his execution had set the entire Kashmir valley on fire with large groups of people staging protest demonstrations.Apart from the separatists senior leaders of two mainstream political parties,the National Conference,and the PDP,too voiced concern and criticism over Guru's execution.Later tempers of people and political leaders rose high when they came to know that Guru's family members had neither been informed about the date of execution nor were his son and wife allowed a meeting with him before his execution.This was followed by consistent demand from people in Kashmir, from family members of Guru and from political leaders of various hues for the return of Guru's body to his family members in Kupwara for proper burial.In fact one independent MLA tried to get a resolution favouring returning of Guru's body to his family adopted by the state Assembly.For days together the ongoing budget session of the state legislature witnessed unruly scenes when members clashed with one another over Guru's execution.
And all those supporting the demand for restoration of Guru's body to his family members looked towards the Centre for some positive response.Yes,senior functionaries in the Congress led UPA Government,including Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh,discussed the issue after he received two communications,one from the PDP patron Mufti Mohd.Sayeed, and the other from Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah.However,it was the union Home Minister,S.K.Shinde who set to rest any speculation on getting Guru's body by his family members.Shinde has ruled out handing over the body of Muhammad Afzal Guru to his family. There has been persistent demand from Afzal's family for handing over his body so that he could be buried properly in Kashmir. Afzal was hanged and buried in New Delhi's Tihar Jail on February 9. Citing rules and procedures Shinde has made it clear that under the jail rules, the body cannot be given to Guru's family members.However, Shinde said that Guru's family members are free to visit Tihar Jail and offer prayers at his grave.Shinde's comments come amid the demand by Guru's family and major political groups in Kashmir asking for the return of the body. Even Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and opposition PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier and demanded that the body be handed over to the family of Guru.
Well knowledgeable circles in Jammu and Kashmir believe that the Government of India has genuine compulsions for rejecting the demand for handing over Guru's body to his family members.Apart from the jail manual prohibiting the authorities for handing over the body of a person executed within the jail premises to his family members,the Government had reports that the security scenario in the Kashmir valley may assume alarming dimensions once the body of Guru landed in Srinagar. These fears of the Government were based on inputs of various intelligence agencies which had conveyed to the Government that the situation may turn very serious if Guru's body was brought back to Kashmir as over a mllion people were planning to stage protest demonstrations. Hence the Government opted for the status quo in order to avoid any civilian killings which would have been the outcome of severe clashes between the protesters and the security forces.The Government has opted for the situation to improve without giving any provocation to the people. |
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