The Verdict
The SC bench comprising justices P.V. Reddi and P.P. Naolekar said: “Collective conscience [of the nation] will only be satisfied if he is awarded death penalty.”
Afzal was not even given the right of appropriate representation during the court proceedings – there have been several sessions wherein Afzal has had to defend himself in court. And we are talking about a police force that is amazingly adept at fabricating evidence….
The biggies of the Parliament attack are having a blast living it up in safety and luxury. Maybe because a nation that’s baying for Afzal’s blood has blissfully forgotten about them.
Or maybe the Indian Government always knew that they wouldn’t be able to touch them anyways – and when we are talking of such a high profile case – they had better have convictions. Who better than Mohammad Afzal to have as prime accused?
Isnt it obvious that there is something horribly wrong somewhere?
I am not claiming that Afzal is innocent - all I am saying is prove his guilt for gods sake!
What it means for us
Afzal might hang. Or maybe he might not.
But if he does, it would be a sad day for the state in general and the judiciary in particular.
Afzal is nobody special. He is just another Indian – like you, like me, like most of us. His execution will prove beyond doubt that justice is not for the common powerless Indian.
I do not intend, and hate to make this appear communal – but Indians of the minority community would just become a lot more vulnerable due to this. The police would be cracking cases at break neck speeds – and would be hurled praises by a media that sees all, knows all, but plays blind.
The victims – persons who end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time – it may be me tomorrow, it may as well be you too.
Now the entire nation will bay for our blood. And then the SC will again cater to the collective conscience of the people
Denying justice to the common Indian. Delivering judgments that are based on the perception of justice than justice itself.
Is this a sign of things to come?.......
16 comments:
Interesting thoughts Sir. You should have been here long ago first of all. Nonetheless, just one point. Treason is the worst act in any nation state, and so is conspiracy to the same.
There must be no other punishment
True.
All I wish to say is give him a fair trial - it is his right.
And from the manned in which the proceedings have progressed, it is woefully obvious that he hasn't got a fair trial.
Nice to see your blog finally online.
The fact that we're still having a debate on this issue tells us that our systems are up and running. Though we'd have liked this debate to have opened much before the supreme court came up with its judgement, it was great to see the flurry of editorials that were devoted to the cause.
Expectedly, politicians were busy posturing to win some brownie points with their constituency.
Its a rather emotive issue at this moment. There are some rather forceful arguements on either side.
President Kalam has done to right thing by keeping his decision on hold until the tempers cool.
Firstly, welcome to the blog sphere. Better late than never, I say! We can always do with as many opinions as we can get.
Now getting back to serious business.
You have stated your opposition to Mohammed Afzal's execution on the grounds that he was purportedly denied the right of appropriate representation during the judicial process. I cannot help but wonder where these doubts were when he was being tried. His trial wasn't a cloak-and-dagger affair; it was a highly public affair. If he wasn't getting adequate representation then, the human rights activists should ideally have raised their voice then.
Mr.Geelani was set free and the investigating agencies rebuked and censured by the same courts, whose impartiality you today question.
Your statement that he is being hanged despite his guilt not being proven beyond the pale of reason is akin to casting aspersions on the judicial system, not just at the local level, but at the highest echelons of the system. He had filed a curative petition to the effect, but the Supreme Court found no merit in the matter, which effectively means that the judiciary is firm that it has taken the right decision, and that nowhere was Mr.Afzal denied his rights as a citizen.
Why is it that we are so cynical about this judgement, and see it as another example of how justice remains miles away from being within the reach of the common man? Who were the people who died in the incident, to which Mr.Afzal conspired?
It is a dangerous thing to start calling Mr.Afzal as a representative of the minority community; he's a blot on any community, and I don't think any self-respecting community would think twice before expelling him from its fold. Communalism may exist in our society, there's no doubt about it. But that doesn't mean that each and every arm of the State has been affected by the indecision or the biases that are implicit because of this virus. I want to ask you this: Why did Mr.Afzal feel the need to don his headgarb only after people starting calling him a Muslim victim? Why before that, did he maintain a religion-neutral dress? Did his piety suddenly awaken then?
Justice is not a static entity, to be put on a pedestal and worshiped without ever wondering whether it could change to suit the changing times. Sometime before, people complained that the judiciary ignored public sentiment, and was behaving like ivory tower idealists, and now when they heed public sentiment, they are accused of thwarting justice itself.
I am convinced that Mr.Afzal is guilty of treason, against the people, the very same people whose protection he now seeks. To deny those who have lost their beloved ones in that dastardly act is a murder of justice. I shudder to think of such a day. Let the law of justice prevail!
Afzal is NOT "just another Indian – like you, like me, like most of us."
He is a fanatic Muslim terrorist who deserves to go to his "heaven" after being hanged.
He is not an Indian. Only an Islamic terrorist. That's all I will say about that.
Hi Vivek,
'I cannot help but wonder where these doubts were when he was being tried.'
True. They Should have ideally come before the SC passed its verdict. On the brighter side, the voices are making themselves heard at least now.
'Your statement that he is being hanged despite his guilt not being proven beyond the pale of reason is akin to casting aspersions on the judicial system, not just at the local level, but at the highest echelons of the system.'
Thank you! You got me right. I am doing that - because i dont expect the SC atleast to proceed with a case in such a dastardly manner. There are officers who have been accused of torturing Afzal into confessing before the police.
The lawyer that was assigned by the State to Afzal ultimately seemed to be figting against him rather than for him.
Afzal was forced to say that he needs no representation.
And when he placed another request, specifying that he didnt wish to have the same lawyer - the 'honourable' SC send the same lawyer right back to him.
'It is a dangerous thing to start calling Mr.Afzal as a representative of the minority community; '
He isnt. I didnt (mean to) say that either. You added the word 'representative'.
'Sometime before, people complained that the judiciary ignored public sentiment, and was behaving like ivory tower idealists, and now when they heed public sentiment, they are accused of thwarting justice itself.'
If I am allowed to pass judgements on the basis of sentiments rather than evidence - boy would i love to be a judge! I can do whatever i like.....wow!!
'I am convinced that Mr.Afzal is guilty of treason, against the people,....'
Huh? The SC itself doesnt seem to be convinced about it - it had to fall back and stoop down to appeasing the 'collective conscience' to pronounce the death verdict.
Hi Cant C Me,
Wish I could!
Thank you for your comment.
Yes - he has been labelled an Islamic Terrorist. But mind you - there have been a lot of loopholes in the manner in which the authorities established that fact.
And thats all that I am trying to say - plug those loopholes - and if you still find him guilty, he MUST be punished.
But remember - if the truth is actually something other than what is made out to be - then this case shall set a very dangerous precedent.
That Mr.Afzal's lawyer was sent back by the SC, is something I am not sure of, but if you evaluate this case on the basis of the Geelani affair, then had the same lawyers seen any merit in Afzal's case, they would have very well taken it then itself. Geelani was innocent, and so they took up the case to expose the State.
That they are now saying that there has been a miscarriage of justice is not only a farce, but a mockery of justice.
You implied that I have made Mr.Afzal a 'representative' of the minority community. You, in your blog, very clearly elucidated that "Indians of the minority community would just become a lot more vulnerable due to this". I am not the one who is calling Mr.Afzal a Muslim terrorist. Terrorists have no commune, no religion, and no honor.
Judicial actions can be either based on pure precedent or on the need to create a precedent. Strict constructionism, which tells that judicial statements should be based solely on the letter of the law, can be harmful at times, as they could be distant from the mood of the times. Of course, that being said, never can the importance of evidence be ignored in proving the guilt of an individual beyond doubt.
You are being naive when you state that the SCI is not convinced of Mr.Afzal's guilt, but is hanging him solely because the people want him to be hanged. The people even wanted to hang Geelani before he was declared innocent. Doesn't that speak for the reason that the judiciary is still exercising?
All in all, clemency is a noble idea when the victim or the families of the victims have the right to grant clemency, as in the Gulf countries. No other soul can take on himself that job, because he is simply entitled to it.
And there we go again. Here we are debating on the rationality of this decision from a legal perspective.
As you'd be aware, there's another very important perspective to this debate - the political one. I am sure quite a few people will severely criticize the very thought of keeping a judgement on hold because of political considerations. But it also true that politics and public sentiment in the valley should be taken into consideration in such a debate.
Vivek has argued earlier (on a different blog - mine!) as to how this is tantamount to wrapping up the rule of law. But we need to look at the circumstances we're talking about. The protests on the streets in the valley, from what we read and see on TV, were not the usual protests organized by giving free food. What came across was a very real sense of disechantment.
I admit that as a precedent we may not be doing the most ideal one. But we are atleast not commiting an error which cannot be undone.
Politics is in the end populism, which will endear itself to one section of society and not so to another. In the end, we are incapable of satisfying everyone.
The protests which are organized in the name of faith and religion are more dangerous and hence must be treated with more disdain than those which are organized by distributing free food. Just because Mr. Afzal happens to be a Muslim and hails from Kashmir doesn't necessarily mean that he is innocent. Disenchanted the Kashmiris may be, but even they know the price a man convicted of treason must pay.
India is guilty of custodial deaths in Kashmir and that may create an impression that Kashmiris are dispensed a different kind of justice. But here, the case has not just been ended in the by lanes of Srinagar. The case has been argued and dispensed with in the highest corridors of Indian jurisprudence.
Even when the Mandal Commission report was tabled, people said that as a precedent we are making a mistake, and that maybe some day, we will be able to undo the same. We fail to realise that the past can never be undone, and the scars that the present bears are testimony to that.
hello ppl...nice to see u guys still in touch...thot tht ur arguments wud end wid ur engg course,was wrong! I see ur arguments extendin beyond the classrooms of SIES..How was ur alumni meet?
Hi Neeraj, Vivek..
Hmmm. For the time being let’s break free from the legality of it all.
One positive aspect of this issue: we Indians have shown the powers that be that we are no longer going to be mute spectators to national issues – we will make ourselves heard.
One very very disturbing aspect: Kashmiris have chosen to be an exception – and are voicing themselves in a completely opposite manner.
Why does Kashmiri media report in a manner that wildly differs from the national mainstream media? (Neeraj – I hope this does not end up being a carbon copy of your related post ) Why do the same issues evoke radically diverging responses from Kashmir and the rest of India? It hardly matters to them whether Afzal is innocent or guilty – they will oppose the government tooth and nail. The Kashmir Government has gone to the extent of officially proclaiming that the state will go up in flames if Afzal is executed. Why?
Well the blame – at least partly has to be accepted by India. Why does it have to be Kashmir vs India? Why hasn’t Maharashtra done a Kashmir on any issue? Or any other state for that matter…
The answer is obvious – it is an intense sense of alienation. Kashmiris have lost faith in the Indian state. They have begun doubting every move of the Indian state.
There are more guns in Kashmir than there are jobs. And the Indian government isn’t investing any worthwhile money in Kashmir either – it’s but obvious that hardly any new jobs will be generated.
What is the average Kashmiri supposed to do to earn a livelihood? The government provides nothing. And things haven’t changed in all these decades. It doesn’t take time for hopelessness to progress to cynicism to desperation to hate. Why should they trust the government now? At least the militants seem to be sympathetic towards their cause. So why not try lending them a supportive hand? To make things a lot worse the security agencies try to earn brownie points by masquerading innocent civilians as terrorists and executing them in encounters of the fake kind. All’s fine until the truth leaks out. Why shouldn’t Kashmir begin viewing the security agencies as the real militants of the valley?
I AM NOT generalizing this for all Kashmiris – just giving my thoughts on why militancy manages to survive. And that India will have to pay the price for all these grave mistakes.
My salutations to our brave people who are risking every moment of their lives so that we get to live in peace. Sincere apologies if any of the thoughts or words expressed above appear too radical.
You have stated that the people of Kashmir are cynical towards the Indian State, and are hence drawn towards the militants. I think the Kashmiris know better than anyone that it is the militancy which is becoming the biggest impediment to their own progress, and mind you, they don't like it.
However the point is that while custodial deaths are a matter of great shame, and those guilty of them must be punished with the highest penalty possible under the law, the Afzal matter is not of the same level. Passions are not inflamed by the fact that Afzal Guru is a Kashmiri; hardly so, because then even when Geelani was being prosecuted, there should have been a furore.
Afzal Guru has friends, friends whose links go back to the source of all the trouble, wherever that may be, who know that his execution is inevitable; only they want him to go as a martyr to their cause, rather than as a common criminal.
You must realize that this debate is much delayed. Now the issue causing much consternation in the Vale is the matter of custodial deaths. If now Afzal's execution were to be approved as also at the same time if the officers responsible for the custodial deaths are also punished in a severe manner, I do think the Vale would be content.
http://intendedpun.blogspot.com/..
sirji.. aapke vichar hummee aage badnemein bahut sahayta karenge.. krupaya visit karen and hamme dhanya karen....
-- shreedhar
new post .... aapke vichar ke liye hamm utsuk hain.....
tring*,..... tring*.... new post!
and when u writing ur next... isnt it long overdue?
Post a Comment