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Open Letter To President Of India On Afzal Guru's Hanging

By Concerned Citizens

13 February, 2013
Countercurrents.org

To,

The Hon’ble President of India

Respected Sir,

We write to you in deep anguish, despair but in outrage as well. Afzal Guru was hanged on Saturday (9th February 2013) in secrecy. We have been told – after the hanging – that you rejected the mercy petition filed by Guru’s wife Tabassum, on 3rd February. We believe that you made a grave error in rejecting the mercy petition. If you had perused the trial records and the lengthy documentation put together over the years by lawyers and civil rights activists, or even the Supreme Court judgement which sentenced Afzal to death, you would have known, that his guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The fact that the Court appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court) a lawyer in whom Afzal had expressed no faith; the fact that he went legally unrepresented from the time of his arrest till his so-called confession, the fact that the court asked him to either accept the lawyer appointed by the Court or cross examine the witness himself should surely have concerned you while considering his mercy petition.

His personal history of being a surrendered militant, of harassment and torture at the hands of STF, as well as his statement in open court that he had indeed helped Mohammad, one of the attackers on the Parliament, find a house and obtain a car, the same car used in the attack, but at the orders of his STF handlers, should have spurred a full-scale investigation into the allegations. The citizens of this country do not know if one was ordered at all.

It is also a fact that the much-hyped investigation of the Parliament attack case and its prosecution resulted in two full acquittals and conviction of another for concealing knowledge of the crime. It was almost as if there was a need to at least ensure one death sentence so that the faith of the public / society in the efficacy of the prosecution and the judiciary and the Legislature which represented the ‘State” would not be shaken. Surely this was not a case where even the government of the day was convinced of the guilt of Afzal; but treated it like a case that was far too important for all accused to be acquitted. We must remind you sir that the Supreme Court threw out the confessions of both Afzal and Shaukat which obviously indicated that the investigation had been far from fair.

As in life, Afzal Guru was denied his legal rights in his death. Sir, every convict whose mercy petition has been rejected by the President, is entitled yet to a last resort. The convict has the constitutional right to file a judicial review or a delay petition, in the High Court and the Supreme Court, to seek commutation of the death sentence. There exists veritable case law to support a condemned convict’s right to appeal on grounds that pendency of death penalty for years causes suffering and torturous anxiety. We only cite the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, which in 1988 held that “Undue long delay in execution of the sentence of death will entitle the condemned person to approach this Court under Article 32”.

Under the law, Afzal Guru may have lived still despite your rejection of the mercy petition, had he, his family and lawyers been informed of the rejection of the mercy petition. But perhaps fearing precisely this, the state whose head you are, Sir, chose to execute him in secrecy. The killing was not a fait accompli– a natural culmination of the course of law, as it is being made out to be by the government and the media. In fact, Afzal Guru was cynically, callously and calculatedly denied access to judicial remedy that was due to him. His family was not informed, not only because our state has become unrecognizably cruel—which it has, but also because it did not want Afzal Guru to exercise his legal rights and possibly avert the execution. Informing the wife that her mercy petition had been rejected through speed post is a joke. What the state has done is not simply kill a convict. It has committed a fraud on the people by invalidating an entire body of jurisprudence and a category of rights inhering in our Constitution.

And finally, the Indian state must explain why it displayed such urgency in executing Afzal before those others whose mercy petitions your office has earlier rejected.

Sd/

Manisha Sethi, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Ahmed Sohaib, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Sanghamitra Misra, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Adil Mehdi, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Ghazi Shahnawaz, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Ambarien Alqadar, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Farah Farooqi, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Tanweer Fazal, Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
Yug Mohit Chaudhry, Advocate, Mumbai
Vrinda Grover, Advocate, Delhi
Kamini Jaiswal, Advocate, Delhi
Trideep Pais, Advocate, Delhi
Mayur Suresh, Advocate, Delhi
Jawahar Raja, Advocate, Delhi
Madhumita Dutta, Vettiver Collective, Chennai.
Arvind Narrain, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore
Lawrence Liang, Alternative Law Forum
Siddharth Narrain, Alternative law forum
Rakesh Sharma, Filmmaker
Ajay Bhardwaj, Filmmaker, Delhi
Jesse Knutson, Academic, Delhi
Dr. Nandini Chandra, University of Delhi
Kaveri Gill, Delhi
Gautam Mody, Secretary, New Trade Union Initiative
Prof. Ali Javed, University of Delhi
Satnam Kaur, Saheli
Prof. Alok Rai, Academic, Delhi
Dr. M. Vijayabaskar, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai.
Darryl D’Monte, Mumbai
Shivam Vij, Journalist, Delhi
Amit Thorat, Delhi
Ankur Dutta, Academic, Delhi
Ritu Dewan, Delhi
Venugopal Maddipati
Ruhi Saith
Kaushik Bhaumik, Senior Vice President, The Film House, Osian's
Dr. N. Sukumar, Dept of Political Science, Delhi University
Dr. Anand Teltumbde, IIT Kharagpur
CN Subramaniam
Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh, Lawyer and Legal Researcher, New Delhi
Khaliq Parkar, JNU
Wilfred D’costa, Indian Social Action Forum – INSAF
Mary E John, Academic, Delhi
Aamena Ahmad
Askok Choudhary, NFFPFW
Hany Baby, Univ. of Delhi
Jaya Menon, Academic, Aligarh Muslim University
Jenny Rowena, Academic, Delhi University
Mayanka Dave Mukherji, LSR College, Delhi University
Nadim Asrar, Journalist, Delhi
Rangnath Singh, Journalist, Delhi
Dr. Shadab Bano, Academic, Academic, Aligarh Muslim University
Dr. Sk Ehteshamuddin Ahmed, Academic, AMU
Dr. Kaushikee, Academic, JMI
Ritu Sinha, Academic, Delhi
Supriya Chaudhuri
Prof. Tripta Wahi, University of Delhi (Retd.)
Vijay Singh, Forum for Democratic Struggle, Delhi University.
Lesley A Esteves, journalist, Delhi
Panini Anand, journalist, Delhi
Saba Naqvi, jourmalist, Delhi
Prof. Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi
Jawed Naqvi, journalist, Delhi
Paramita Ghosh, Journalist, Delhi
Ram Puniyani, All India Secular forum
John Dayal, Delhi
Shweta, SRUTI (Society for Rural Urban & Tribal Initiative)
Subhash Ghatade, writer and activist, Delhi.
Madhuresh, National Alliance for Peoples’ Movements (NAPM)
Sukumar Muralidharan, journalist, Delhi
Dhruva Narayan, Managing Editor, Daanish Books
Ajitha GS, publishing professional, Bangalore
G. Arunima Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
K. Saradamoni, Economist, Thiruvananthapuram
Prof. Mohan Rao, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sabeena Gadihoke, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Prof. Shohini Ghosh, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Sohail Akbar, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Prof. MS Bhatt, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Dr. Neshat Quaiser, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Sabina Kidwai, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Shamya Dasgupta, journalist/writer, Bangalore
Shikha Jhingan, filmmaker, Delhi
Prafulla Samantara, Co-convenor, Lok shakti Abhiyan
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor Milli Gazette
Nandini Sundar, Professor, Department of Sociology, DU
Ashley Tellis, DU
Brinda Bose, Associate Prof., Department of English, DU
Neeraj Malik, Indraprastha College
Javed Malick, Formerly Khalsa College
Rahul Govind, Delhi University
Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Raks Media Collective, Delhi
Prof. Ranjani Mazumdar, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Mukul Kesavan, writer and historian
Arun Khote
Arjumand Ara, Academic, Delhi
Rakhi Sehgal, Trade Union activist, Delhi
Sreenivas VP
Subasri Krishnan, Independent Filmmaker, New Delhi
100. Jairus Banaji, Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

101. Dr. Anirudh Deshpande, Department of History, University of Delhi

102. Prof. Amit Bhaduri, economist, Delhi.

103. Prof. Anand Chakravarti, Academic, Delhi

104. Asit Das, activist, Delhi

105. Ravi Sundaram, CSDS

106. Trisha Gupta, writer and editor

107. Peggy Mohan, author, Delhi

108. Satya Sivaraman, activist and filmmaker

109. ViBGYOR Film Collective, Thrissur

110. Saheli, Delhi

111. Anivar Aravind, activist, Bangalore

112. Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA

113. Sanjib Baruah, Professor of Political Studies, Bard College, New York; Honorary Professor, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi.

114. Chitra Joshi, Department of History, I.P. College, University of Delhi

115. N. A. Jacob, Department of English, Ramjas College, University of Delhi

116. Madhavi Zutshi, Department of English, Khalsa College, University of Delhi

117. Rochelle Pinto, Academic, Delhi University

118. Jonathan Gil Harris, Professor of English, George Washington University, Washington DC

119. Madhavi Menon, Professor, Department of Literature, American University, Washington DC

120. Rohini Hensman, Writer and Activist

121. Tapan Bose, SAFHR, Delhi

122. Pradeep Narayanan, Head, Research and Consultancies at Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices

123. Ravikant, Sarai, Delhi

124. Shivsundar, Journalist, Bangalore

125. Dr. Malem Ningthouja, Campaign for Peace & Democracy Manipur

126. Antara Dev Sen, Little Magazine, Delhi

127. Mariam Shaheen, Journalist, Delhi

128. Gauri Lankesh, Bangalore

129. Ragini Saira, Academic, Amherst

130. Seema Guha- Journalist, New Delhi

131. Rajesh Sinha- Journalist- New Delhi

132. Puneet Nicholas Yadav- Journalist, New Delhi

133. Yadvendra Michael Yadav- Lawyer, Bhopal

134. Sohail Hashmi, Delhi

135. Sabiha hashmi, Art teacher, Bangalore

136. Asad Zaidi, Publisher and writer, Delhi

137. Meera Ahmed, Academic, Delhi

138. Naveen Chander, New Socialist Initiative, Delhi

139. Dr Rina Ramdev, Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University

140. Hemangini Gupta, PhD candidate, Emory University.

141. Nandini Dutta, Academic, Delhi University

142. Nalini Nayak, Academic, Delhi University

143. Dr. Nikita Sud, Academic, University of Oxford

144. Akhil Katyal, Academic, St Stephens college

145. Sumi Krishna, Academic, Bangalore

146. Soumya Dutta, Academic, Delhi University

147. Dr. Saroj Giri, Academic, Delhi University

148. Uma V Chandru, WSS Karnataka

149. Ranjana Padhi, PUDR

150. Geeta Seshu, Journalist, Mumbai

151. Rahul Rao, SOAS

152. Dr. PK Vijayan, Academic, Delhi University

153. Dr. Karen Gabriel, Academic, Delhi University

154. Biswajit Mohanty, Academic, Delhi University

155. Nandita Narain, Delhi University

156. Dunu Roy, Hazard Centre, Delhi

157. Manohar Elavarthi, Praja Rajakiya Vedike, Bangalore

158. Sameer Saran, UNHCR, Kabul

159. Prof. Ayesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru University

160. Prof. Achin Vanaik, Delhi University

161. Uzair Alim, New Zealand

162. Misha K. Alim, Chennai

163. Kamayani Bala Mahabal, Lawyer, Activist

164. Anita Ghai, Fellow, Teen Murti and Delhi University

165. Kiran Saheen, Activist

166. Rukmani Datta, Activist, Bombay

167. Kaveri Rajaraman Indira, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

168. Dolly Daftary, USA

169. Badal Malick, New York

170. Laxmi Murthy, Journalist, Bangalore

171. Sheba George, Activist

172. Rukmini Sen, Senior Journalist

173. Pankaj Jha, Delhi University

174. Saumya Bhattacharaya, Delhi University

175. G N Saibaba, Delhi University

176. Roopa Dhawan, Delhi University

177. Tara Basumatary, Delhi University

178. Vijaya Venkataraman, Delhi University

179. Naveen Gaur, Delhi University

180. Abha Dev Habib, Delhi University

181. Prof. Janaki Nair, Academic, Jawaharlal Nehru University

182. Padmaja Shaw, Osmania University

183. Richa Minocha, Jan Abhiyan Sanstha, Himachal Pradesh

184. Mahtab Alam, writer and activist, Delhi

185. Mansi Sharma, activist, Delhi.

186. V Suresh's, (General Secretary PUCL)

187. D Nagasaila's, PUCL,

188. Kavita Srivastava, PUCL

189. Arati Chowksi, PUCL

190. Sachin N, Delhi University

191. Debjani Sengupta, Delhi University

192. DW Karuna, Chennai

193. Kumar Sundaram, activist, Delhi

194. Harjeet Singh Gill, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University

195. Raji Govind, Coimbatore

196. Anirudddhan Vasudevan, Chennai

197. Mahmood Farooqui, Writer, Delhi

198. A.Suneetha, Senior Fellow, Anveshi, Hyderabad.

199. Saumya Uma, Consultant, Law, gender and Human Rights, Mumbai

200. Anusha Rizvi, Filmmaker, Delhi

201. Rajashri Dasgupta, Journalist, Kolkata

202. Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Academic, Delhi University

 

 




 

 


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