New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Families of those killed in the 2001 terror attack on Parliament House here Saturday hailed the hanging of Afzal Guru but asked why he was not executed earlier."We are very happy... Though this should have been done earlier, it is a welcome move," said Gautam Negi, son of parliament watch and ward staff Matbar Singh Negi who was among those killed by the terrorists.
"Afzal Guru was ultimately handed down the right punishment. We hope all politics related to the parliament attack case will now end," Negi said.
He added that he had been hoping Afzal Guru would be executed after the hanging of Mumbai terror attacks convict Ajmal Kasab Nov 21 last year.
Distributing sweets, the victims' kin hailed President Pranab Mukherjee for rejecting Afzal Guru's mercy petition.
"We are relieved now," said Avdesh, whose wife Kamlesh Yadav was killed too in the Dec 13, 2001, audacious terror attack that almost caused a war between India and Pakistan.
"We are happy that he has been hanged. It is like honouring us though the government should have not delayed his hanging," said Bipin Adana, son of Delhi Police constable Vijendra Singh.
Eighteen-year-old Nitin Mavi, a Class 12 student who lost his father Deshraj, a gardener, in that attack, said: "I would take any job but I will never join the police force. All these years I have seen my mother trying to make ends meet. But today I'm happy for Afzal Guru death."
Sunita, widow of cameraperson Vikram Bisht, said: "It is a day of great happiness for me. I remember (my husband) every day. Whenever I face any difficulty, I am reminded of him. Afzal Guru's hanging has brought us relief."
Maninderjit Singh Bitta, former chief of the Indian Youth Congress who survived an assassination bid in the mid-1990s and now heads the All India Anti-Terrorist Front, demanded setting up of an anti-terrorist military court to deal with terrorists like Afzal Guru.
"A separate anti-terrorist military court should be formed with no political influence," Bitta said.
"The families of slain victims of the parliament attack will write to President Pranab Mukherjee to get back their bravery awards, which they had returned eight years ago to then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam," Bitta said.
Afzal was hanged for eight minutes
New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 a.m. Saturday in front of eight people in the Tihar Jail in a procedure that took eight minutes, prison sources said Saturday.
They told IANS that Guru was informed about his hanging late Friday evening after a death warrant was issued by a Delhi court.
"He was told about his hanging yesterday (Friday) by the jailor," a source said.
The source said Guru was hanged about 20 metres from his cell where he spent 12 years in solitary confinement.
"He was happy and healthy before being hanged," said the jail's Director General Vimla Mehra.
"Before the hanging, a medical check-up was conducted on him. His health and blood pressure were normal," said Mehra.
"There were eight people, including a doctor, a magistrate and some jail officials, present when he was hanged. He was hanged for eight minutes," the source told IANS.
Guru was buried quietly soon near his cell. After he was woken up at 5 a.m., he offered prayers before calmly approaching the noose, officials said.
Meanwhile, the family of Afzal Guru sought permission from jail authorities to perform his last rites in accordance with religious traditions.
In a letter to Mehra, drafted by Guru's lawyer N.D. Pancholi, wife Tabassum said the last rites of her husband should be performed in a dignified manner.
"If you could inform us when the family members can perform their 'Namaaz-e-Janaza', we would appreciate it," said the letter.
Guru was convicted for his role in plotting the Dec 13, 2001, attack on Parliament House, in which 10 people were killed when five armed terrorists stormed into the complex when 100 MPs, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his cabinet ministers were inside.
The conspirator's life should become extinct, ruled SC
New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) "The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender," the Supreme Court had said while upholding the death sentence of Afzal Guru.
Holding Afzal guilty of the conspiracy culminating in the attack on Parliament House, the apex court in its Aug 4, 2005, judgment added: "The conspirator, even though he may not have indulged in the actual criminal operations to execute the conspiracy, becomes liable for the punishment prescribed under Section 302 IPC (Indian Penal Code)."
Either death sentence or imprisonment for life is the punishment prescribed under Section 302 of the IPC.
The judgment delivered by Justice P. Venkatarama Reddy and Justice P.P. Naolekar had also said that Afzal's case "has no parallel in the history of Indian Republic," and that it "presents us in crystal clear terms, a spectacle of rarest of rare cases".
"The very idea of attacking and overpowering a sovereign democratic institution by using powerful arms and explosives and imperilling the safety of a multitude of peoples' representatives, constitutional functionaries and officials of Government of India and engaging into a combat with security forces is a terrorist act of gravest severity," it added.
The court said the "gravity of the crime conceived by the conspirators" to cause enormous casualties and dislocate the functioning of the government "cannot be described in words".
"The challenge to the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India by these acts of terrorists and conspirators, can only be compensated by giving the maximum punishment to the person who is proved to be the conspirator in this treacherous act," it added.
"The appellant (Afzal Guru), who is a surrendered militant and who was bent upon repeating the acts of treason against the nation, is a menace to the society and his life should become extinct. Accordingly, we uphold the death sentence," the apex court ruled.
"In the instant case, there can be no doubt that the most appropriate punishment is death sentence. That is what has been awarded by the trial court and the high court," the judgment said.
