Abdullah government against Afzal’s hanging

JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government is against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, warning this could spark widespread violence in the state, official sources said Friday.

Already facing frequent protests in the Kashmir Valley, the National Conference government is not prepared for another wave of mass protests if the 40-year-old Sopore resident is hanged, the sources told IANS.

They said the state government had cautioned the central government about the consequences of carrying out the sentence.

A medicine and surgical instrument dealer from Jammu and Kashmir, Afzal Guru was given the death penalty in 2002 on charges of hatching the conspiracy that led to a deadly terrorist attack on Indian parliament in December 2001 leaving over a dozen people dead.

His sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on Oct 20, 2006. But his execution was stayed after his wife sought clemency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been pressing for his early hanging.

The sources said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was personally against hanging Afzal Guru, who is now lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.