Does Afzal deserve clemency?
P R RAMESH
THE Left and other offspring of aggressive multiculturalism are out in full force to defend the “rights” of their latest cause celebre, Mohammad Afzal. They want the government to err on the side of life and grant clemency to the chief facilitator of the attack on Parliament.
On the face of it, there is nothing wrong or improper in speaking out against death penalty. Unlike much of the Muslim world, citizens of mature democracies like India do not voluntarily give up noble ideals like freedom of speech. Mainstream India was outraged when community thugs and their apologists issued threats against Pope Benedict XVI for saying that violence in the name of religion was not on. India was also shocked when a cartoonist and the country that he belongs to bore the brunt of fundamentalist anger for caricaturing the Prophet. So, if friends of Afzal have a point, it should surely be heard and assessed.
Afzal is accused of waging war against the State. He arranged the logistics for the Jaish-e-Mohammad sponsored attack on Parliament for promoting the cause of international jehad. Afzal pleaded guilty to the crime. He has not requested clemency. He has not apologised to the families of the eight people who died in the heinous attack or expressed any remorse. In this context, it is hard to imagine that Afzal is a right candidate for clemency.
But let’s still give “Friends of Afzal” the benefit of the doubt. Their admirers say that they do not share the mainstream’s “frenzy” on law and order issues. And that they would like to address security issues in a “rational” fashion.
Really? But these aggressive multiculturalists, who are lobbying hard with the government for Afzal’s life with the backing of pardon-terrorists-for-votebank politicians in the Congress and the Left, are not normally visible when terror strikes various parts of India. The country is yet to hear about conferences or protest marches organised by these sections against terror attacks on innocent men, women and children. The Left, which despatches parliamentary delegations at the drop of a hat, is yet to send fact-finding teams to Varanasi or Mumbai.
The multiculturalists are also not known to have spearheaded debate on death penalty either. A section led by West Bengal’s Marxist chief minister’s wife recently backed death penalty for a rapist. At that juncture, and rightly so, they did not want the government to err on the side of life and bail out the rapist. And there is no evidence to suggest that Marxists and liberals campaigned for the life of two assassins of Indira Gandhi.
Given this backdrop, it is natural to suspect that what is on display is a selective outrage. It also demonstrates a skewed sense of sympathy in the treatment of jehadis and the victims of their terror. The country, of late, has been witnessing this variation of fifth column work. The Leftliberals have managed a significant role in shaping the reflexes of “secular” parties. And many of the government-sponsored panels are now being populated by leading members of this section.
What is more objectionable is the stand taken by the Congress. Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad sought prime ministerial intervention to save the terrorist’s life. He cited the aggression of the fist-clenched protesters in the Valley to claim that “public mood” was against the execution of Afzal. The chief minister’s request to appease the secessionist corner got prompt backing from the presiding deities of Delhi’s AKG Bhavan.
The Congress, which is tasked with the management of national security, has taken an ambivalent position. Although it did not back the J&K chief minister’s stand, it has said that there is nothing illegal in appealing for clemency. Its spokesman said that law does not bar a convict from approaching the President. But in the process the thin line dividing the irresponsible Left-liberals and the Congress has got blurred. At a time when appeasement is the norm, the Congress does not want to be an exception.
The Congress’ apparent willingness to be with the soft-on-terror sections cannot but be a cause of worry for those tackling terror on the ground. The Mumbai investigations have shown that Afzal’s comrades are not interested in any compromise. They are the vanguard of Pakistan’s “thousand cuts” strategy and it is their holy duty to commit mass murder in India.
They have to be brought to book and made to pay a price for the traumatising Indian citizens. The country should be speaking for the rights of the victimised and not of the perpetrator. The laws should be helping the law abiding and not the law-breaker. And the government and the ruling party should stop lending its ears to pro-terrorist fifth columnists.
• There is nothing wrong or improper in speaking out against death penalty
• Afzal is accused of waging war against the State. Afzal pleaded guilty to the crime. He has not requested clemency.
• The government and ruling party should stop lending their ears to fifth columnists, who are lenient towards terrorists
P R RAMESH
THE Left and other offspring of aggressive multiculturalism are out in full force to defend the “rights” of their latest cause celebre, Mohammad Afzal. They want the government to err on the side of life and grant clemency to the chief facilitator of the attack on Parliament.
On the face of it, there is nothing wrong or improper in speaking out against death penalty. Unlike much of the Muslim world, citizens of mature democracies like India do not voluntarily give up noble ideals like freedom of speech. Mainstream India was outraged when community thugs and their apologists issued threats against Pope Benedict XVI for saying that violence in the name of religion was not on. India was also shocked when a cartoonist and the country that he belongs to bore the brunt of fundamentalist anger for caricaturing the Prophet. So, if friends of Afzal have a point, it should surely be heard and assessed.
Afzal is accused of waging war against the State. He arranged the logistics for the Jaish-e-Mohammad sponsored attack on Parliament for promoting the cause of international jehad. Afzal pleaded guilty to the crime. He has not requested clemency. He has not apologised to the families of the eight people who died in the heinous attack or expressed any remorse. In this context, it is hard to imagine that Afzal is a right candidate for clemency.
But let’s still give “Friends of Afzal” the benefit of the doubt. Their admirers say that they do not share the mainstream’s “frenzy” on law and order issues. And that they would like to address security issues in a “rational” fashion.
Really? But these aggressive multiculturalists, who are lobbying hard with the government for Afzal’s life with the backing of pardon-terrorists-for-votebank politicians in the Congress and the Left, are not normally visible when terror strikes various parts of India. The country is yet to hear about conferences or protest marches organised by these sections against terror attacks on innocent men, women and children. The Left, which despatches parliamentary delegations at the drop of a hat, is yet to send fact-finding teams to Varanasi or Mumbai.
The multiculturalists are also not known to have spearheaded debate on death penalty either. A section led by West Bengal’s Marxist chief minister’s wife recently backed death penalty for a rapist. At that juncture, and rightly so, they did not want the government to err on the side of life and bail out the rapist. And there is no evidence to suggest that Marxists and liberals campaigned for the life of two assassins of Indira Gandhi.
Given this backdrop, it is natural to suspect that what is on display is a selective outrage. It also demonstrates a skewed sense of sympathy in the treatment of jehadis and the victims of their terror. The country, of late, has been witnessing this variation of fifth column work. The Leftliberals have managed a significant role in shaping the reflexes of “secular” parties. And many of the government-sponsored panels are now being populated by leading members of this section.
What is more objectionable is the stand taken by the Congress. Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad sought prime ministerial intervention to save the terrorist’s life. He cited the aggression of the fist-clenched protesters in the Valley to claim that “public mood” was against the execution of Afzal. The chief minister’s request to appease the secessionist corner got prompt backing from the presiding deities of Delhi’s AKG Bhavan.
The Congress, which is tasked with the management of national security, has taken an ambivalent position. Although it did not back the J&K chief minister’s stand, it has said that there is nothing illegal in appealing for clemency. Its spokesman said that law does not bar a convict from approaching the President. But in the process the thin line dividing the irresponsible Left-liberals and the Congress has got blurred. At a time when appeasement is the norm, the Congress does not want to be an exception.
The Congress’ apparent willingness to be with the soft-on-terror sections cannot but be a cause of worry for those tackling terror on the ground. The Mumbai investigations have shown that Afzal’s comrades are not interested in any compromise. They are the vanguard of Pakistan’s “thousand cuts” strategy and it is their holy duty to commit mass murder in India.
They have to be brought to book and made to pay a price for the traumatising Indian citizens. The country should be speaking for the rights of the victimised and not of the perpetrator. The laws should be helping the law abiding and not the law-breaker. And the government and the ruling party should stop lending its ears to pro-terrorist fifth columnists.
• There is nothing wrong or improper in speaking out against death penalty
• Afzal is accused of waging war against the State. Afzal pleaded guilty to the crime. He has not requested clemency.
• The government and ruling party should stop lending their ears to fifth columnists, who are lenient towards terrorists