New Delhi, Feb 15: Strongly condemning the “secret execution” of Muhammad Afzal Guru, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JUH) has said “the collective conscience” of the society has been outraged over the manner in which execution was carried out. He said the Indian Muslims have been let down the way Guru execution was carried out “in a hush-hush manner” reflecting “double-standards and discrimination against a particular community.”
In an open letter to United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, JUH general secretary Mahmood A Madani has conveyed to them that Afzal was denied opportunity of legal remedy by “willfully and cunningly” blocking information  about his execution to his family.
“The very collective conscience of the society, which was supposed to be satisfied by imposing the death penalty upon Afzal Guru, appears to be outraged by the manner and procedure of its execution,” Madani, a former Member Parliament, has said in his letter.
The communication further reads that the letter from 200 eminent academics, legal luminaries, journalists, writers, social workers and human rights activists - written to the President of India, bears testimony to the “outrage of collective conscience of the society.”
Pointing out to what he termed various “aberrations” and “contemptuous disregard” to established norms of justice demonstrated by the authorities responsible for carrying out execution, Madani says that Guru was denied opportunity of legal remedy by “willfully” and “cunningly” blocking information of his execution to his family.
Besides, hasty and surreptitious execution; denial of last wish; denial of rights of survivors to perform last rites are the other “aberrations” pointed out by the religious group.
Expressing its anguish, the group said: “No one can reproach the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India or the President of India. Their judgment and order is binding, but to implement the judgment in a wrongful manner and show of cunningness, to curb the due process of law, is as contemptuous to the Hon’ble court as disobeying its commands.”
While directly addressing to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Madani says that “siege of the whole population of Kashmir and denial of all civil liberties, are charges too serious to be missed by leaders of your stature”.
“As a leader whose sensitivities to the issues of human rights and civil liberties is acknowledged by both friends and adversaries. What an irony that your advocacy of commutation of the death sentence of the killers of India’s leader, Rajiv Gandhi, a highly humane and noble gesture, is now being made out to be the mark of double-standards and discrimination against a particular community,” the letter reads.
Madani says that Indian Muslims have been let down by the secret execution as well as their initiative to build bridges with Kashmiri people and integrate Kashmir.
“Despite being the front line supporter of zero tolerance towards militancy irrespective of their religious identity, I feel urged to pass on to you our true feelings and reaction because we feel we have been let down in our struggle against terrorism,” it further says.
Madani while asking both the leaders to deliver justice to Kashmiris says; “We keep looking towards you to see how you ensure that justice is not only done, but it is also seen to be done.”

Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT
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