Not allowing Afzal Guru to meet family wrong: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has said it was unfair if Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru was denied an opportunity to meet his family members before he was hanged. "According to procedures, the convict’s last wish has to be granted. If it has not been done, it is unfair," Singh said.

Although the Congress general secretary said the issue should not be politicised, his assertions on the issue are certain to be discomforting for the government as the same complaint was amplified on Sunday by Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.

In his several interactions with the media on Sunday, Abdullah had said that the government did not follow correct procedure in carrying out the execution.

"It is a tragedy that Afzal was not allowed to meet his family before he was hanged. If we are going to inform someone by post that his family member is going to be hanged, there is something seriously wrong with the system," he had said.

The letter from the government informing Afzal’s family about the rejection of the mercy petition and the plans for execution reached his home only on Monday morning.

"We got the letter early morning today. Though we refused to accept it initially some of our relatives prevailed on us to see the contents. What is the need of getting the letter delivered when the execution has happened three days back," an agency report from Srinagar quoting said Aijaz Guru, Afzal’s elder brother said.

Abdullah’s other major complaint — that the government was adopting a 'selective' approach — too found receptive ears in Congress. Singh said there should be a common approach to terror cases. "We cannot pick and choose cases of terror. It has to be uniform and without any bias," Digvijaya Singh said.

Abdullah had alleged that the Centre was selective in death row cases. "When it is said that Parliament attack was an attack on a symbol of democracy, I have no objection. But there are others who have been sentenced to death. They are also implicated in attacks on democracy. Is chief minister of a state not a symbol of democracy? Is a former prime minister not a symbol of democracy? Of course, he is," Abdullah had said.