For a party that has turned its demand for the hanging of Mohammed Afzal Guru into a blood sport, nothing reveals the duplicitousness of the BJP better than its demand that the UPA government ensure the release of Sarabjit Singh, who is on the death row in Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that Sarabjit Singh, who has not even been identified for any act of violence is being hanged…,” party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra began yesterday. And this, despite Pakistan’s Supreme Court having upheld the death sentence on Singh in August 2005, for his role in three bomb blasts in 1990, which claimed four lives and injured dozens. And this, despite Pakistan’s SC having slammed a lower court for convicting him on only one count of terrorism, “when he should have been convicted and sentenced for each murder in each case.”
Admittedly, this is a complex case, that has now come to be viewed through the prism of Indo-Pak diplomacy. Admittedly, the jury is still out on whether Sarabjit can be classified as a spy, saboteur or terrorist—over the last three years he has been described as all three. Admittedly, Sarabjit has possibly been framed and is possibly paying the price for the death of a Pakistani in an Indian jail on a much lesser charge. Admittedly, Sarabjit is as much a human being as anybody else, who has family and friends. Admittedly, the man should be given the benefit of doubt, especially after languishing in jail for 15 years. And hopefully, the man will be set free, sooner rather than later.
Still, can the BJP have one stand when it comes to hanging on Afzal Guru, and one on Sarabjit Singh? Are the two cases different, simply because the Afzal Guru was party to an attack on the “Temple of Indian Democracy”? Is terrorism on our shores worse than terrorism on theirs? Is a Supreme Court ruling in our country different from a Supreme Court ruling in theirs? Are the lives of parliamentarians more valuable than the lives of ordinary people? Do cases like Sarabjit Singh only underline the need for a complete and total ban on death sentences? Or, is a human life always more easily expendable for parties and governments depending on its religious persuasion?
Also read: CHURUMURI POLL: A pardon for Afzal Guru?
churumuri 
since when did religion come into the picture?
oh.. i remember… since manmohan singh had sleepless nights concerning the case of mohammed haneef.
The case is simple. Afzal attacked India. Sarabjeet is Indian. It’s only natural we try to get the Indian off and hang the bugger who is waging war against india… where is the shame in that?
and i dont think pakistan is begging for afzal to be spared.
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You F****** commies
you idiots of nth order……. FAZAL guru is an INDIAN citizen. A citizen going on war against his own country is called treason or DESH DROHA. where as SARABJIT case is different. He is no citizen of PAK so no charges of DESH DROHA.
How hop less you people are and how cheap is your mentality…….. equating a warrior with a DESH DROHI……. sad sad sad you are morons of nth order
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Since ‘BJP’ is asking for Afzal Guru to be hanged, it is our primary duty as comrades to oppose it and save secularism. We are committed to allow Afzal to stay in WB. In fact we promise to issue him ration card and voters id too as we did for Bangladeshi immigrants.
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In all the last four years as the principal opposition party, the BJP has shown what a irresponsible, disruptive, self-serving force it is, in the manner in which it has derailed parliament, in its disgusting personal attacks on Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, and by giving a communal colour to everything. If its opposition to the nuclear deal wasn’t enough, its plea for clemency for Sarabjit Singh exposes its total bankruptcy of ideas.
Where is that great voice of natural justice, Narendra Modi, who was baying for Afzal Guru’s head just a couple of months ago during the election? Why is he not clamouring for Sarabjit’s head now? If the BJP thought the European Union was interfering in the “internal affairs” of India by seeking a pardon for Afzal Guru, what does the BJP’s demand for a pardon for Sarabjit amount to?
We will go no where by comparing Sarabjit and Afzal Guru. The crimes are different, the motivations are different. What the civilised world needs is a global ban on capital punishment. By communalising the issue of the life of a human being, like churumuri has, we will only coarsen the debate. What we need is a calm, rational debate.
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karanataka shoulad adopt Afzal Guru to keep BJP away from Power.
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@ Aatmasakshi
do you have even an iota of aatmasakshi in you?
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Whoever wrote this blog just forgot that the case against Sarabjit hasnt been publiscised yet. Apparently the supreme court conducted his trial but no one knows what exactly is the nature of spying is he convicted for. Was there consular access given to Sarabjit, No. Was he represented by lawyers. We are not sure. In Pakistan the civilian courts and military courts carry very less credibility.
Compare that to Fazal and you will understand that this is not about religion. It is about opportunity to represent yourself in court.
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on the head sumne neeve
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SumneNeeve, stop kidding yourself about Sarabjit’s “spying”. He has been sentenced for his role in the bomb blasts in three cities that killed four people (14 according to other reports). To us it may seem a minor offence, to them it may be a major thing. Or may be not.
That said, it is also quite clear that Sarabjit (like Kashmir Singh) is a pawn in the political chess board. Recently democratic Pakistan needs to win some brownie points in the eyes of the world, and I bet this brinkmanship over Sarabjit will continue for some time.
If Kashmir Singh could claim he wasn’t a spy and then claim he was and then claim he wasn’t, surely we haven’t heard everything of Sarabjit.
The Congress and the BJP and the Left need to have a consistent policy on terror. The PM can’t have “sleepless nights” only over the fate of Mohammed Haneef, at the same time the BJP can’t develop its soft corner for terrorists only when it is Sarabjit.
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Whatever it is, can you please tell me the way he has been convicted. What proof was given against him to support his conviction. Apparently, we dont know. I dont know, because no Pak newspaper has reported the complete case against Sarabjit.
So, Sarabjits case is more like winning a lottery.
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For a moment keeping aside Afzal Guru,minority appeasement ,technicalities of the case etc.. Is Sarabjit innocent? we all want to think so I am sure. But if not did he commit the bomb blast? and at whose behest ? Does that make our nation in par with Pak ?
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Afzal Guru should not be hanged!
Instead, he should be holed up in a 2×4 room with a TV showing patriotic and anti-patriotic bollywood films 24×7 till the end of his life!
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What non sense this P.carrot and Atmasakshi talking about?
Desh Droha is Desh Droha
You Commins can not able to keep Taslima you want to keep Afzal?
You want all Muslims to be extremist? You B***** are first of all anti Indians. People know how you have behaved during indo china war. If they demand meghalaya you B**** will agree to give b’cos you don’t have brain.
B’cos of people like you in India terror is increased. Any blast or terror is going on & no action is being taken b’cos of you dirty Commins.
What are you trying to correlate Surabjit V/s Afzal
One thing we should we know in Indian judiciary every one is having trust. Is it the same case in Pak?
Pak is the country where the terrorist are trained it is even established by US. Are Indians (Hindu) trained there? Probably communist are and their out fit Naxalites are.
Pak issue of Surabijt is bad incident or political issue by pak.
But Afzal issue is defiantly not political issue. He should be hanged with out further delay.
Any one supports Afzal should also be hanged.
Suppoting a deshdrohi is also Desh Droha.
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Anil,
I thought P.Carrot was using sarcasm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
But I guess you need to lighten up a little to realize that…
Or maybe you are being sarcastic too?!
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Remember the death of the Pakistani cricket fan who died mysteriously in the custody of our police. Thank god, Sarabjit Singh and Kashmir Singh did not die under ‘mysterious circumstances’ like many others in Indian and Pakistani jails. It appears, on either side of the border when it comes to the trial Afzals or Sarabjits credible investigations and trials take a back seat under frenzied patriotic feelings.
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TKM,
Can you really equate India and Pakistan? Is there even a discussion about Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan beyond frenzied religious and ‘patriotic’ feelings?
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Churumuri, what’s wrong with you? What a piece of garbage you posted! Unbelievable!
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It is quite a thought-provoking post, atleast to expose BJP’s double-speak on issues humanitarian, not necessarily patriotic.
The ban on capital punishment, which is finding worldwide appeal, should be adopted not just by India, but also by Pakistan. The debate over equating Sarabjit with Afzal Guru will continue, but in the end it will boil down to ending a human life, which no civilised society should accept.
Both the BJP and the Pakistanis should realize this and work to save lives of humans, who are already condemned to their dungeons of their prison cells.
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With regard to Afzal and Sarabjit all that I can say is that political parties are again playing their dirty games with peoples lives. Whichever way it goes one party or the other will benefit.
I would like to highlight something else.
Iam an Indian. When a British girl dies in Goa, there is such a huge reporting of the news by all media and calls for investigation are made and the guilty caught. When a Pakistan cricket fan is killed in India, no one is even bothered to call for an investigation. Tomorrow if an Indian cricket fan is killed in Pakistan, would we be happy if the dead body is returned and no investigation conducted. The guilty people are free and this sort of attitude would encourage them to repeat these acts in future as well. News channels are equally responsible for not investigating the cause of the Pakistan cricket fans death.This just shows that the life of a White Britisher is more important than that of a Pakistani or Indian.
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With what face can the BJP claim to be secular when its leaders like Modi, who apart from seeking the hanging of Afzal Guru, had beat their chest over the encounter killing of a hapless Sohrabuddin and at the same time demand clemency for Sarabjit?
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Bad plot churumuri. You should have taken other issues to attack BJP.
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A show of hands please! How about ‘hanging’ TS (Tharadu Sattha) Shivaraj Patil for his gross incompetence?
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