3 years ago, on February 9, 2013, Terrorist Afzal Guru was hanged to his death. No less than the Supreme Court of India, after a fair and just trial, had sentenced him to death. He had played a central role in the conspiracy leading to the Parliament attack on December 13, 2001 which led to the death of a dozen policemen and a gardener.
Such a day, would have ordinarily been forgotten in our country, since we would rather remember the brave, martyred soldiers rather than a cowardly terrorist. But in a country, where supposedly opinion is stifled, where free speech doesn’t exist, we heard echoes of “well-educated”, “literate”, “knowledgeable” Indians, shouting in support of Afzal Guru.
In Jammu & Kashmir, no less than the J & K High Court Bar Association, held an extra-ordinary general meeting to pay “glorious tributes” to “Shaheed Maqbool Bhat” and “Shaheed Mohammad Afzal Guroo” who according to the Bar Association, were hanged in “most barbaric, inhuman and brutal” manner for fighting for Kashmir’s freedom. This is a resolution passed by them in J & K:
The Bar council also felt it necessary to suspend work on 9th and 11th February, to “pay homage to the martyrs”
Are these fringe elements? Is the J & K Bar Association fringe? Are these misguided youth with poor education who have been misled? One could argue that some elements in J & K have always been anti-India, and that could be used to rationalise these sort of feelings. But then what to say of a mini-Pakistan in the heart of Delhi?
In the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Leftist students called a meet to commemorate the “judicial killing” of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. The meet, as their poster described was “against the Brahmanical collective conscience, against the Judicial Killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat”
The poster also claimed to be a protest “in rage against the occupation of Kashmir“. The students allegedly shouted slogans hailing ‘Shaeed Afzal Guru’ and also chanted anti-India slogans. They also expressed solidarity with “struggle” of Kashmiri migrants and advocated for ‘Azad Kashmir’. A video has emerged which shows these students saying: “India go back, Kashmir ki azadi tak jung chalegi. Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung chalegi”
JNU students on 9th February shouting Anti India slogans in support of Afzal Guru creating unrest in JNU pic.twitter.com/XgIINn2mFk
— news : Smriti Irani (@SmritiIraniNews) February 10, 2016
The students also made their affiliations extremely clear by shouting the “lal salaam” which is the slogan of Communist and Leftist organizations in India. President of the JNUSU and AISF leader Kanhaiya Kumar also extended his support to this event.
Can upload only 30 sec at a time . Another video mentioning JNU and lal salaam as part of the previous protest. pic.twitter.com/90Lhag3ljD
— news : Smriti Irani (@SmritiIraniNews) February 10, 2016
The students had also displayed their love and respect for rules and orders, by continuing with this program even though they had been denied permission by the VC of JNU.
What explains the thought process of such people? Was the JNU VC stupid to expect the students to obey his rule when they have the “intellectual prowess” to call a Supreme Court verdict, sentencing a terrorist to death, a “judicial killing”?
In the Rohith Vemula case, we were told that he was protesting against the death penalty and not in support of Yakub Memon, but in this case, we can see these elements glorifying terrorists, calling them “Shaheed” and even worse, praying for “Bharat ki barbaadi”. Are these people against death penalty or are these anti-nationals?
