National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday said he thinks the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru “served no purpose”. He also said that the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir government would not have approved Afzal Guru’s hanging.
“The Jammu and Kashmir government had nothing to do with Afzal Guru’s execution, otherwise you would have to do with the state government’s permission, which I can tell you in no uncertain terms would have been forthcoming. I don’t believe any purpose was served by executing him,” Abdullah said in conversation with news agency ANI.
Justifying his stance, the former Chief Minister said he was against capital punishment and “doesn’t believe in the infallibility of courts.”
He said, “Evidence has shown us time and time again, it may not be in India, but in other countries, that you have executed people and found that you are wrong.”
Afzal Guru was executed at Delhi’s Tihar jail on February 9, 2013 for plotting the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament House, and he was buried inside the jail complex.
Abdullah’s remarks came ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, to be held for the first time since the scrapping of Article 370.
Abdullah has filed nomination for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls from two seats — Ganderbal and Budgam. Talking about his candidature, Abdullah said he hopes to win both seats and restore the “respect taken from us”.
The Union Territory will go to polls in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. Election results will be declared on October 8.
