BJP slams P Chidambaram for his remarks in Afzal Guru case

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who held the home and finance portfolios in the UPA government, today came under attack from BJP for comments attributed to him regarding Afzal Guru, who was hanged after being convicted in the terror strike on Parliament in 2001.

Reacting to Chidambaram's remarks, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma called it "unfortunate", saying it is an "insult" to the martyrs of Parliament attack and the judiciary.

"It is a very unfortunate statement. It is an insult to the soldiers who were martyred in the Parliament attack and also the judiciary," Sharma said.

Chidambaram has been quoted as having said in a newspaper interview that he felt it was possible to hold an "honest opinion" that the Afzal Guru case was "perhaps not correctly decided" and that there were "grave doubts about the extent of his involvement" in the Parliament attack. Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013.

Chidambaram was Union home minister when Afzal Guru's mercy plea was rejected by the previous UPA government in 2011.