India divided over Afzal's penalty

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New Delhi: The prime accused in the December 2001 Parliament attack case, Mohammed Afzal, has again brought into limelight the issues of free trial in the country and our approach to fighting terror.

The question whether he should hanged has divided the entire nation.

“The question is whether this man has been found guilty which conforms to the standard of fairness regarded by the civilised judicial system and the answer is ‘No’,” says senior lawyer at Supreme Court (SC), Ram Jethmalani.

“You cannot establish somebody's guilt or innocence unless you give him a fair trail,” says Delhi University lecturer, S A R Geelan, who was co-accused in the case but later exonerated.

But the view from the other side of the divide is that enough is enough.

“The high court pronounced him guilty. The case went to SC, where he was pronounced guilty. The review petition was filed which was turned down by SC and therefore what more fair trial does a person need?” asks former police commissioner of Delhi, T R Kakkkar.

Meanwhile, BJP claims that Congress is playing vote bank politics by not taking a firm stand on the issue.

“It’s vote bank politics, sure and simple. In this case, it is not only political impropriety and political lack of wisdom, it also adds up to conveying a totally wrong message to all terrorists and to the issue of terrorism,” says BJP leader L K Advani.

It’s now up to President A P J Abdul Kalam as to whether Afzal should live or die on October 20.

(With inputs from Abhirr VP)