Kasab, Afzal will be treated alike: PC

NEW DELHI, May 18 (Agencies): Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru will be “treated alike” every death row convict in the country.

The rulebook cannot be thrown away to hang him, says Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Chidambaram while talking to national news channels about the alleged delay in hanging Guru, who is imprisoned in Delhi’s Tihar jail for his role in the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament and whose petition for clemency is pending with the President.

When asked about allegations that his government was going slow on hanging Afzal but seemed to willing to “fastrack” the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab, the Mumbai attacks terrorist.

“That's not true--every convict on death row will be treated alike,” Chidambaram replied.

Chidambaram insisted that the government is treating both the cases alike.

“Please understand that Kasab's sentencing has not been confirmed by High Court.

Either you swear by rule of law in this country or throw the rulebook out of the window,” he said.

“He (Kasab) has a right of appeal, and in a case like this I suspect even the Supreme Court will entertain a second appeal.

So we will have to allow the processes to be completed--it is only mercy applications which come to the government, otherwise the government has no say in the matter.” Chidambaram, in the same interview, spoke about the alleged involvement of fundamentalist Hindu groups in a string of bomb blasts in the country.

“We think now there is evidence pointing to terrorist groups, which are supported by extreme right Hindu fundamentalist organisations.

We don't call it Hindu terror--terror is terror.

“The groups seem to subscribe to an extreme fundamentalist Hindu philosophy.

We think there is evidence that connects the Ajmer blasts, the Mecca Masjid blasts (in Hyderabad) and not yet (but) the Samjhauta (train) blast,” he said.

“The investigating agencies are closely following the trail we have discovered.

I think investigation alone will show whether the dots are being rightly connected.

Whether it's one organization or different organisations working in coordination, all that will have to wait.” About us | Advertise | Other Publications | Subscriptions | Weather | Letters | Send Mail Disclaimer: Information is being made available at this site purely as a measure of public facilitation.

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