NEW DELHI, 14 October 2006 — Union Minister for Agriculture and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has said that the death sentence against Mohammed Afzal Guru in all probability will be carried out.
Pawar’s comments came while President APJ Abdul Kalam is supposed to be considering the clemency plea by Afzal, convicted in the Parliament attack case. But even before an official announcement, Pawar in an interview to NDTV indicated that the government would not go against the court order.
Clarifying the position of the Center on the issue, Pawar has said the government intends to honor the Supreme Court verdict.
Pawar’s remarks came despite huge protests in the Kashmir valley where leaders across party lines have been demanding clemency. The growing public pressure coupled with the likelihood of the opposition exacting mileage from the issue of terror have made it unlikely that the Center will grant Afzal Guru clemency.
And spurring the government on are partners like the NCP, who earlier wanted Afzal not to hang. “The government will honor the Supreme Court verdict. There is no question of the government going against it,” said NCP leader. The UPA government came under great pressure following the Supreme Court upholding Afzal’s death sentence.
J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad favored postponing Afzal’s hanging to after Ramzan, even as Kashmiri groups like the JKLF lobbied for mercy.
But with the Supreme Court clarifying on Wednesday that clemency should not become the norm, the government’s conscience could breathe a lot more easier.
