Politics Of Terror: And Then Afzal Guru Was Hanged!

By -


In another masterful and top secret operation, the second in three months, the Government of India executed the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Afzal Guru in the national capital’s Tihar Jail at 8 am yesterday.  Justice was delivered after long eleven years. On the fateful day of 13th December 2001 a stunning attack was carried out on the Indian Parliament in session and within 48 hours of the attack Afzal Guru was hauled up by the police. He was held responsible for plotting and planning this daring attack right on India’s sovereignty. Afzal Guru was sentenced to death and the Supreme Court of India confirmed it in 2005. Guru’s wife appealed for clemency with the President of India and the death penalty had been pending since then. The terrorist had been lodged in a high security isolated cell in Tihar Jail since 2001 and yesterday, the 9th of February 2013, he was hanged just a few meters away. The jail authorities informed about his burial inside the jail premises later.

Why the great delay? Politics? Yes, say the opposition political leaders in view of the 2014 General Elections and the alleged non-performance of the coalition government. The Government of India said it was done in due process of law and any politicization of the issue would be unfortunate. At the same time Congress leaders in Maharashtra reportedly introspected on the possibility of early elections. The main opposition party BJP had to welcome the execution, but said the delay was immensely political. The BJP had been using the delay in Afzal Guru Execution issue as a major political plank and while questioned on its possible loss now of an election campaign for 2014 the party countered by saying that the Government had to do it thanks to the BJP’s intense public opinion drive. Politics of words and of taking credit?

The BJP also alleged that the execution was carried out just to balance the repercussions caused by the statement made by the Indian Home Minister on right-wing terrorism recently.  This brings us deeper into the Indian terror politicking scenario.

In this country terrorists are known more for their statehood or religion or any related parameter and less for the cowardly acts they commit to annihilate innocents. Terror gets classified as per such parameters and every class is blatantly and stoutly defended by its loyal supporters. The Kashmir valley had been put under indefinite curfew and stray incidents of violence were reported since yesterday. Why? Because terrorist Afzal Guru was a Kashmiri and his state and religious supporters including his family considered him innocent. Just the same way fiendish terrorists belonging to other state or religion garner blind support for themselves. Parameters stretching up to language, castes and colors continue to be the cross currents of the Indian politicking that often causes interference, hindrance and intolerance. Politics of diversity?

To take this murky point a little further people always against the death penalty expressed the sentiments that no person should be hanged in a civilized society. Now, they consider the society ‘civilized’ only when brutal terrorists or criminals or rapists face capital punishment, and not when innocents get killed, murdered and raped anytime day or night, anywhere and almost every day. Politics of ‘human’ rights? Anyway, as we have said earlier, ours not to reason why…!

Politics or not, a terrorist gets his deserving punishment that at least makes the kin of the victims happy. A strong message also goes out for terrorists, criminals and rapists. Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru dealt with in three months. Justice finally gets delivered, better late than never.
Reactions:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bihar Maha Bitterness: Why Board And Then Blame The Sinking Ship!

By -
Image
  After riding on a palpable anti-incumbency wave and the predictions of clear victory by all of the exit polls the ultimate narrow defeat of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the Bihar Assembly Elections-2020 is bound to cause huge disappointment and bitterness. Unable to accept defeat the leaders of the RJD first started attacking the Election Commission on a variety of alleged anomalies in counting, and then picked out the main alliance partner, the Indian National Congress (INC), for letting them down. A prominent RJD leader attacked Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi for their alleged callousness towards the election. The leader further alleged that they did not come for the election campaigns attending a very few rallies, but were only interested in having picnics. He also questioned the internal management of the INC and its lack of introspection.   Having said that, we must examine the underlying factors. The RJD under the leade
Read more

Pandemic Response: Taking Precaution Is Not Out Of Fear Or Negativity!

By -
Image
  Apart from the still fluctuating or increasing number of people testing COVID-19 positive across the Indian states, primarily Delhi and a few others, there has also been a growth of a sense of ‘false positivity’ in the response of the people to the pandemic. We had seen in an earlier piece about that surge of defiance in citizens to celebrate Diwali the usual normal way. This ‘surge of defiance’ is somewhat related to what we have said about that sense of false positivity. After more than eight months of paying subservience to the sticky virus people now seem to say and act accordingly, ‘No, enough is enough! No more slavery to the goddamned virus! We’ll do now whatever we feel like. We are least likely to be infected as we are positive about it, and if we do get infected, let it be!’   If fellow citizens around them insist on observing the norms like at least wearing masks they rule it out scornfully, ‘Don’t be scared, guys! Be positive, nothing will happen to you!’ If an elder
Read more

A Few Concerns As India Cross 9 Million COVID-19 Cases!

By -
Image
India has crossed the 9 million COVID-19 cases mark today, taking 22 days for the last million increase as against 19 days for the previous millon cases. The recovery rate has almost reached 94% with active cases falling below 4,50,000. A few days back daily new cases fell below the 30,000 mark that was consistent only for two days, and new additions had again picked up. In the last twenty four hours total number of new cases was at 45, 882. Total deaths that started falling below 500 also picked up, and for the last twenty four hours 584 Coronavirus patients had died which is a bit worrying despite the fatality rate consistently at around 1.5%.  The increased numbers of daily new cases and daily deaths are largely due to record spikes in Delhi and high-volume numbers in Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Haryana. In states like Gujarat, Manipur and a few others the renewed spikes have raised a concern. In
Read more

India Vs Australia: Cricket New Normal, COVID Stress, Pink Ball And Expectations!

By -
Image
  Photo: rediff.com India started their tour of Australia in 2018-19 too from November 2018 to January 2019, and created history by becoming first Asian cricket team to beat Australia in a Test Series in Australia. They also became only the second team of the world to beat Australia in Australia in both the formats of ODI and Test. The first test of that series too started in Adelaide in December and in that cracker of a match India won by 31 runs, one of their slenderest of victory margins. Australia won the second test in Perth by 146 runs, and India sealed the series 2-1 by winning the third test in Melbourne by 137 runs with the last match ending in a draw in Sydney. Then they went on to win the ODI Series 2-1 too. Under Australia’s split captaincy regime for different formats Aussie wicket keeper Tim Paine was the captain in the Test series and Aaron Finch captained the Aussies in the ODI and T201 formats, and they met Virat Kohli as the all-format Indian skipper. The rivalry rema
Read more

Self-Respect And Respecting Others!

By -
Image
We more or less understand the meaning of self-respect which is to keep or show respect to one’s own self. A self-respecting person is one who tends to justify his/her deeds or actions or reactions in the intrinsic belief that s/he cannot possibly do or say wrong things, and if s/he gets insulted by others in the process or is asked to do or comply with ridiculous tasks s/he gets mortally offended. Losing one’s self-respect is often the end of the world for a truly self-respecting individual. This, of course, differs from individual to individual depending on the individual’s perception about it and whether his/her sense of self-respect is genuine or cultivated or vain. To this point we will come at a later context. First, we must try our best to explain the syndrome of self-respect or self-esteem further.   How does self-respect come about? We have to be clear about one thing that we cannot possibly create self-respect on our own; supposing we can the questions are at which stage
Read more

Actor-Legend Soumitra Chatterjee Passes Away In Kolkata!

By -
Image
  Legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee passed away in a Kolkata hospital today after fighting with COVID-19 for nearly one and half months. He was tested positive on the 6 th of October 2020 and was promptly admitted to a hospital considering his age and vulnerability. The actor was on and off ventilator support as he developed a range of other infections. Great hopes were generated when he tested negative on October 14; but his COVID-related complications dashed all expectations of his final recovery. He continued to be on life support, and despite the best efforts of the team of doctors we have lost one of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema. He was 85, but still had enough ammunition to surge ahead with his creative pursuits, encompassing a saga of over five decades in Bangla movies. But for the deadly pandemic virus!   Soumitra Chattopadhyay has been one of my all-time favorite actors of world cinema, and living in Assam, I began to realize his immense contribution to cinema o
Read more

Pandemic Response: Restive Public, Diwali Violations And Vaccine Solace!

By -
Image
  As the loud bursts of firecrackers reach a crescendo the discerning law-abiding citizens, particularly the elderly ones sticking to the stay-at-home doctrine, wonder loudly too, ‘What the heck is happening, and how?’ Yes, valid question: the state, one of many Indian states, imposed a complete ban on firecrackers and fireworks from 9 th November to 30 th November 2020 asking citizens to observe Diwali, the biggest festival of India, by lighting earthen or electric lamps only, in view of the pandemic that can accelerate again due to increased pollution. In the nation’s capital Delhi, apart from the complete government-ban the National Green Tribunal also totally prohibited use or sale of firecrackers making these punishable offences. Yet, on the Diwali night of 14 th November 2020 all caution ended up in smoke as most of the city folks celebrated with fireworks in brazen defiance. How they managed to get the abundant supplies of crackers and accessories is a question that is better
Read more

The Decibels Of Desperation!

By -
Image
  Tiken has developed a gut feeling. That he is not going to win this time. He tries hard to get rid of that miserable feeling, but is not successful. He understands his other gut feeling. That he cannot afford to lose this. He has everything to lose if he does. In fact, Tiken had sounded a threat even before the event that he would leave the place in case the inhabitants stopped supporting him, and they would miss his prestigious presence sorely. Then, he muses, did he actually know about the wave for change in the air? Perhaps yes, perhaps not.   It is a huge housing society that Tiken lives in, with five wings from ‘A’ to ‘E’. Each wing has hundred flats most of which are occupied, either by owners or tenants. As the General Secretary of the Society’s Residents’ Association he has been enjoying immense powers in taking decisions or initiatives or desirable actions. He was elected in the last elections by a very narrow margin, but most of the members in his executive committee wo
Read more

The Kitchen!

By -
Image
  The kitchen, arguably the most appetizing word for humankind since times immemorial, is the place where we repose our absolute trust and hunger-related needs for the daily supply of our dishes, the more delicious the dishes the more the anticipation and satisfaction of the trust. Home is where the kitchen is, that is to say, we invariably mean here the kitchen every home has. Right from the steaming bed-tea cup in the morning to the last bites of the supper we lovingly follow the kitchen activities, every day. The aromas or the fragrances of cooking, irrespective of whether these come from our own kitchen and the kitchens of neighbors, never fail to energize us in the run-ups to the final acts of eating or devouring or gulping. When guests are around more delicacies get cooked and…well, those are the heavenly moments most of us must have experienced or still relish in life.   Taking the risk of being labelled as male chauvinists or misogynists we must say here that somehow the la
Read more

Happy Green Diwali-2020!

By -
Image
Diwali, the biggest festival of India, is a festival of lights, and is traditionally celebrated by lighting rows of earthen lamps or diyas , candles and strip electric lights, in and around homes and buildings. People can celebrate and enjoy in this way even during the worst crisis ever faced by humankind as there are no restrictions on burning oil or electric lamps. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to us to light up  diyas  just before Lockdown was enforced in March. Lighting up your houses essentially means driving away evil spirits and forces, and hoping for a bright year ahead. Celebrating Diwali this way does not in any way rob you of enjoyment.   Besides, if you’d like to have sweets and distribute those to your neighbors there are no issues either. Sweet shops are open across the country you can even walk down to and buy to your heart’s desire. Various state governments have also announced measures to ensure undiluted sweets for your good health. Then, if y
Read more