13.9.11

Afzal clemency plea admitted

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly speaker on Monday listed a resolution, moved by independent legislator Abdul Rashi Sheikh, seeking commutation of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru’s death sentence. The resolution by the north Kashmir MLA will set the stage for a lively debate not just in the J&K House but beyond the Valley. Chief minister Omar Abdullah had sent a tweet last month after the Tamil Nadu House adopted a motion seeking leniency for Rajiv Gandhi’s LTTE killers, who have been on the death row for about two decades. He had asked why nobody talks about an assembly resolution on Guru along similar lines. The Congress is unlikely to support such a resolution and the National Conference-Congress alliance may be dented as a result. Langate MLA Rashid claims he was inspired by Omar’s tweet and filed a resolution on September 1 seeking to save Guru from the gallows. He wants Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone to table it for a vote during the 10-day session beginning September 26. The assembly secretariat spokesman has confirmed receiving 39 resolutions out of which the speaker has listed 35, including Rashid’s. Rashid has called upon the National Conference and the PDP to “show self-respect” by supporting the resolution. “Commuting Guru’s death sentence is not only a human issue but also a deeply emotional one for Kashmiris. Any wrong step would lead to disaster,” he warned. “Although balloting to decide whether or not to debate a resolution does not violate procedure, the speaker still has the authority to take it up for discussion directly in view of the seriousness of sensitivity of the issue,” he said. The Congress, BJP and Panthers’ party are bound to oppose the resolution while NC members would act as mute spectators. Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP would support the resolution. “The denouement may deliver another dent in the relations between the coalition partners NC and Congress-NC,” said a political analyst.

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