Internal Security Watch

[Sridhar]

Much has been written in the last couple of days (and before that) about Afzal's execution. I ignored the comments made by terrorist sympathizers and the likes of Arundhati Roy or Amaresh Mishra. Some people were motivated by their general aversion to the death penalty on moral or practical grounds - I have sympathy for this view on the latter grounds (too many cases of people being executed and subsequent conclusive proof emerging that they were guilty; in my books even one innocent person executed is one too many and due to its irreversibility, the death penalty is particularly problematic on this front). But that is not specific to Afzal's case. I did however, pay attention to those arguing that he did not receive a fair trial, and instead of depending on opinions of others, I went back to the original case documents. In particular, the Supreme Court judgement on the case is instructive.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?228136

If you don't want to read it in full, here are the main points. Afzal's conviction rested on the following grounds

1. Confession statement - at the trial stage, this was the main basis for the verdict and the death sentence. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the confession statement, on the basis that it violated the safeguards provided in law. The facts are that the case was registered under regular criminal law, under which a confession is admissible only if it is taken in front of a magistrate - a confession given to a police officer is not admissible. However, the Government enacted POTO (later enacted by Parliament as POTA) on 19th December, i.e. after the Dec 13th attack and it was applied to this case on a retroactive basis. POTO/POTA allows confessions before police officers to be admissible, but with some safeguards. One of those is that of right to counsel, which was denied to Afzal. Second is the right for adequate time for reflection before signing the statement (this is to ensure that the confession is not a heat of the moment thing, but one based on careful consideration). This was also, in the Supreme Court's opinion, not provided. Thus the Supreme Court set aside the confession in its entirety.

2. The second point made was that he did not receive adequate legal representation. He was unrepresented for part of the duration of trial, but the Supreme Court did not find this to be a problem since it was for a short time, and during this time, there were no consequential legal decisions (only remands and such). He was initially represented by Seema Gulati, along with her junior counsel, Neeraj Bansal, but she later withdrew because she was representing the co-accused SAR Geelani. Neeraj Bansal continued as Afzal's counsel. Afzal expressed several times in court that he was not happy with the legal representation provided by Bansal but the court did not appoint a different counsel. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, and it could not have done otherwise. It is very hard to make a case on this basis, unless there is specific evidence of misconduct on the part of the counsel (e.g. if he was recorded having a conversation with the counsel for the other side, as in the case of the 2G case today). The state is obligated to provide a counsel for the accused, not the best counsel possible. That said, the trial court's decision to not seriously consider this issue is somewhat unfortunate, since justice needs to be seen to be done. In this case, the only thing the trial court did was to allow Afzal to cross examine witnesses. But how can somebody with not even an undergraduate degree be expected to do this adequately? Also, it is curious (but by no means evidence of improper legal representation) that the counsel for Afzal brought forth no witnesses, and did not provide any material of his own to support the case.

3. The third point, and on which basis the Supreme Court confirmed the conviction and death penalty for Afzal, relied on circumstantial evidence. Things like the telephone recovered from him to which the dead terrorists had made phone calls, identification by shopkeepers who had sold the ingredients for making explosives, a laptop that was used to create the fake ID cards the terrorists used etc., hideouts used by the terrorists and identification of Afzal by the landlords of these properties, identification by shopkeepers who sold mobile phones to Afzal that were used by the terrorists and so on. The court did point to some curious facts such as Afzal's mobile phone (a crucial piece of evidence as it turned out) but which had neither a SIM card in it, nor was its IMEI number recorded at the time of recovery. Or that the various identifications were based not on identification parades, or by presenting multiple photos of different people from which the witness picked out Afzal, but by asking whether this was the person they had sold the items to, showing only one photo. However, the court concluded that the circumstantial evidence pointed to Afzal's participation in the conspiracy.

4. The fourth case of the prosecution was based on the statements of Geelani and the other accused, where they implicated themselves as well as Afzal. But the Supreme Court acquitted or reduced the sentences of the others, and these statements did not have much evidentiary value in Afzal's case as well.

To sum up, it seems like the Supreme Court did go into issues such as flaws in legal representation, the lack of safeguards while taking the confession statement, and loopholes in the other circumstantial evidence that many of those opposing Afzal's execution point to and did not base its judgement on these pieces of evidence (throwing out the confession statement altogether). It did, however, consider the circumstantial evidence to be sufficient to uphold the conviction and the death penalty.

My own reading of the case document suggests that Afzal probably did have some role to play in the conspiracy. He probably did procure material for the attack, and he was in touch with the terrorists. He probably did know what the plan was, but the courts did not establish this once the confession statement was thrown out by the Supreme Court. Thus, it seems to me (with my absence of legal training) that the evidence was sufficient to say that he was an accessory to the fact. He was probably in full knowledge of the conspiracy, but this was not established beyond reasonable doubt. It is unlikely that an innocent man was executed - whether the sentence was commensurate with his offense is a different question (the trial court sentenced him to death on the basis that he was a conspirator, not that he was an accessory). We must also remember the time that this happened, in the post 911, post Dec 13/Kaluchak/Akshardham era when public sentiment wanted some of the guilty to be apprehended and punished (and unfortunately enough, even the Supreme Court referred to this in justifying the death sentence). Overall, this was not the Supreme Court's finest moment (in confirming not just the execution but also death penalty in a case based largely on contaminated circumstantial evidence without corroborating evidence in most cases). That does not mean that Afzal was innocent or that the conviction was wrong per se. Only that it will unfortunately be pointed to in future as a case where people can raise doubts about whether justice was done. To repeat, justice needs to be seen to be done, and even more so in a case involving the death penalty.

What are some lessons from this?

1. There seems to be an utter lack of knowledge of basic procedures of investigation amongst our law enforcement agencies. Especially when it comes to application of legal safeguards for the accused, this can cause most cases to not result in convictions. No wonder our conviction rates are so poor. For instance, in this case, even the basic Miranda rights given explicitly under law were denied. When evidence was collected, even the basic precautions taken world over were not taken, contaminating the evidence altogether. There is a high probability, in my opinion, that this case would have resulted in an acquittal of Afzal at the trial stage itself had this been in a country like the US. Not because he was innocent, but because the evidence was contaminated (not just the confession but even the circumstantial evidence).

2. There needs to be codification of certain things that are taken for granted elsewhere, but which seem to have grey areas in our case. A universally applied principle of the law everywhere is that you can be tried only under laws that were applicable at the date of the commission of the crime. Laws cannot be retroactively applied. In this case, POTO was applied in the case even though it was enacted after the Dec 13th attack. His initial arrest, remand etc. was not under POTA. POTA was applied when the confession was taken from him since the Act allowed the confession to be recorded by a police officer and used as evidence, something not ordinarily admissible as evidence.

3. Justice needs to be prompt and needs to be seen to be fairly applied. The inordinate delay in the decisions on the clemency petitions, the feeling that this is not fairly applied (e.g. in the case of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and of Beant Singh due to political considerations) is not good for our legal system, or indeed for our fight against terrorism. In this regard, some of those politicians (e.g. the BJP) who clamored for Afzal's execution but are silent about Rajaona (Beant Singh's killer, against whom the case is much stronger than against Afzal) are doing great disservice to the cause of fighting terrorism of any kind. And they feed into the claims of those in Kashmir and elsewhere that the law is not applied uniformly and fairly. There may be no basis to this, but the politicians don't help matters when they selectively want the application of the law in some cases but not in others.

4. Executions need to be clinical affairs, seen to be done for the purpose of upholding the law and nothing else. While the state itself cannot be faulted too much in the cases of Kasab and Afzal, the same cannot be said about some of the people involved. For instance, some person in Tihar jail talked about the contents of the letter that Afzal wrote to his wife just before his execution (funnily enough, the person said that it would be insensitive to reveal its contents, but went ahead and did it anyway). There is no need to cater to the perverse voyeurism of society. A criminal, if given the death penalty, has to be executed by the state, but the public spectacle that follows is unseemly. What he said before his execution, what he ate etc. don't need to be publicly revealed. It didn't use to be like this - I remember the day of Kehar Singh's execution (the last execution in Tihar) and our neighbor at the time was the senior Delhi Police official in charge of the execution. Not once did he speak, even in an informal way about it, and not much was revealed to the press either. I guess what has changed (for the worse in many ways) is the large number of TV channels, but that is no excuse to the kinds of leaks we have been seeing.

[devesh]

However, if there are opportunities for us to reform, shouldn't we do that too? Just like the say, the best intel is Human Intel, the best way to tackle problem is from a holistic perspective - just not bullets and danda. A long term thought needs to exist along with immediate goals.

is that what it's called these days? holistic?

[rgsrini]

^^Pretty presumptious on the part of the postor to think that long term thought does not exist and it is all bullet and Danda. If one spends a little time to research and reflect, it will become abundantly clear that Indian security forces are actually too accomodating (to a fault). In any other country, the Geelanis and the Yasins would have been thoroughly discredited and will not get any space in the media to vomit their junk. In India not only do they get space, but the Indian security forces protect these terrorist sympathizers with their own precious life. The government sponsors their junkets and spends money to keep them healthy and alive. The disproportional financial package that J&K gets is another clue. The special status that the state gets is another clue that government is bending over backwards to appease these undeserving folks. I think the postor has not seen the photo of a lonely Indian police trying to protect himself from the mob throwing stones (actually bricks). In spite of huge provocations, the force consistencly acts in a subdued and a measured way taking blows after blows.

We will always have people afflicted with WKKitis, like the postor above, who will advise the Indian security forces to not use force (even when they are so measured) against the murderers. This particular case, this terrorist planned and executed an operation to kill our elected representatives. But the postor would rather believe half truths and pure lies emanating from the usual suspects and asks the Indian security forces to "reform".

I normally ignore people afflicted with WKKitis. The first symptom of WKKitis is to hope that by hugging a terrorist, their minds and action can be changed. The next symptom is to argue on behalf of the terrorist, at the expense of the country's interest.

[Aditya_V]

Exactly poster has completly ignored the accomadation given in stark contrast with the treatment of say the USA drone attacks etc.

Would the poster ask his Govt to be more holistic to Syria, Invite Taliban to White house to talks, Invite North Korea, Iran in a more holistic manner. Poster did not ask for Holistic treatment of Bin Laden. Would he dare ask this?

If China considers withdrawing from Tibet, Pakistan considers Independence to FATA, Baluchistan, handing over of POK and Aksai CHin then I would say the Holistic approach followed by India would have worked.

[nawabs]

Banks can open A/cs for Bangladeshi nationals sans RBI nod

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 448362.cms

The Reserve Bank today said banks are permitted to now open non-resident ordinary rupee (NRO) account of Bangladeshi nationals without its prior approval.

"...it has been decided that henceforth, banks would be permitted to open NRO account of individual/s of Bangladesh nationality without the approval of the Reserve Bank," it said in a notification.

The permission is granted subject to the conditions the bank should satisfy itself that the individual holds a valid visa and valid residential permit.

The RBI said banks should put in place a system of quarterly reporting whereby each branch of the bank shall maintain a record of the bank accounts opened by individual(s) of Bangladesh nationality and details of such account shall be forwarded to their head office.

The head office of the concerned bank shall furnish details of such accounts --containing the name, date of arrival in India, passport number, residential permit reference, name of the Foreigner Registration Office ( FRO), and address and contact number of the bank branch where the account is maintained -- on quarterly basis to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

However, opening of accounts by entities of Bangladesh ownership shall continue to require approval of RBI, it added further.

As per the extant guidelines, opening of Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) accounts by individuals/entities of Bangladesh/Pakistan nationality/ ownership requires approval of Reserve Bank.

[Aditya_V]

What is happening in Assam, with MSM virtually blackening out all coverage.

11 killed in clashes with police during panchayat polls in Assam

[nawabs]

^^North East India ‏@northeastblog

Death toll in Assam rises to 11 in poll related clash between police and agitating Rabha Hasong tribal groups.Rabhas opposing it demanding election in Rabha Hasong autonomus districts.

[Sushupti]

‏@vinod_sharma
Air Chief accused of taking bribes head of track 2 team bartering Siachen. Lt Gen Patankar recommending same also in Track 2 & NDTV regular

Ex-Air Chief Tyagi was bribed to swing chopper deal, Italy probe report says

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/exair ... s/1073394/

[Surya]

where is pentaiah with an appropriate song


Did anyone really believe his nephew or whoever was totally disconnected

shameless piece of sh1ts

Can he still be prosecuted? dont care how bad it looks

[Hari Seldon]

Fake notes flood Delhi: Police on alert as Pakistan pumps counterfeit cash through Nepalese border in 'economic terrorism' which funds criminal gangs

From the UKstani Daily mail.

[pentaiah]

Surya ji Saar ji
I got banished when pointed the corruption that's going on in the armed forces with anybody over above the rank of Colonel who directly comes in contact with civilian vendor/ agents is susceptible.
It's not they are per se prone to take bribes but they just conduct themselves on the basis of their superiors.

I have seen these things so many times.

At another level Commissioned rookie officers often have to take mem shahibs on shopping sorties in official jeeps to shopping and are made to bargain showing their ranks in uniform....especially jewellary

Again I am not making it up and also not making a sweeping statement every one does these things , but by and large after 1984 it's almost routine ....

We have lost our code of conduct or ethics but everybody is in a rat race to get rich...

The land scandal be it Darjeeling or Mumbai or Bangalore or Secunderabad cantonment are small pimples that we get to notice... But by and large the rot has set in...

Fauji is no longer the same honorable synonym of honesty
On the books a officer can be court martialed if his check bounces that's why it's strictly cash or benami Swiss accounts only

Naam tho hai Tyagi
Magar Chodega nahi kisi vyapri
Rishwath tho bharna hi padega
Nahi tho aage kisa badega?
Tyagi to hoga Fauji
Magar Lalaj may ho Gaya bikari
Izzat ka khadar
Uda di ya Hawa may
Akhir hai tho Vayusena pathi

Sad days

[Sachin]

Meanwhile on Afzal Guru..
We want Afzal Guru's body, says family
The whine fest continues. The family how ever does not seem to give any guarantee that they (or the very peaceful Kashmiri crowd) would make a martyr out of him and cause further problems in the valley. Typical "valley based terrorist" mentality. They can demand any thing, and that needs to be provided. But no commitments forth coming from their side . Hope the government just ignore these people. The govt. was all okay for them to come and see the grave, but no these folks wants the body.

[Sachin]

Mercy Petitions are for sure getting fast tracked..
President Pranab Mukherjee rejects mercy pleas of four Veerappan associates

"We have received information from reliable sources that the message has been sent to Belgaum jail authorities and apparently it has also been conveyed to the prisoners," Balalmurugan, who is also the Tamil Nadu PUCL state secretary, said.

The jail being in Belgaum, I dont think Tamil politics or theatrics may have undue effect here.

[SSridhar]

It will be interesting to watch the reaction of the TN politicians. Suddenly, many of them are seized with the death-penalty apoplexy because they realize each such rejection of mercy petition and the resultant hanging is one more nail in the case of the LTTE detenus. It is so shameful that Indians have to fight to execute the members of suicide-bombing LTTE killer squad. They are the forerunners of Ustad-e-fidayeen, Qari Husain Mehsud, by two decades !

[chaanakya]

Every dawn scares me, says Perarivalan’s mother

After the executions of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru were carried out in secrecy, 66-year-old Arputhammal says every dawn scares her. She reiterates that her son A.G. Perarivalan is innocent and hopes that justice will be rendered. Perarivalan has been sentenced to death along with Murugan and Santhan in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

“It worries me when people raise questions on the fate of convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi case. The case of my son cannot be compared with that of Ajmal Kasab or Afzal Guru. Perarivalan has spent 22 years in prison. There was uncertainty on the fate of his mercy petition for over a decade. The state should not use the law to kill an innocent man, ” she said.

The execution of the three death row convicts has been stayed by the Supreme Court, which is hearing their petitions on the inordinate delay of over 11 years in the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President.

Ms. Arputhammal appealed to the Supreme Court and the Union government that in the event of the petition being dismissed, the government should communicate to her its course of action well in advance.

“Advocates tell me that appeal options still exist … We will appeal to the President to review his predecessor’s order of rejection. There are several loopholes in this case. A book written by a senior investigator in the Special Investigation Team points to certain flaws.” That is what they all hope for - to exploit loopholes in laws to escape punishment after committing heinous crimes.

After Kasab’s execution, Ms. Arputhammal met her son, who is lodged in the Vellore central prison. “It pains me so much to see him… Only a mother can understand my agony. People are talking of the noose tightening around convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi case. But my son is confident… He told me that truth will prevail and justice done. My husband is 72 years old and we want our son to be with us in our old age,” she said.

Appealing to the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of her appeal that no drastic action be taken in the event of the petition getting dismissed in the apex court, she said the family was pinning hopes on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who got a resolution passed in the Assembly urging the Centre to commute the death sentence awarded to the three convicts to life.

“This is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha. An innocent man should not be executed by the state. Both Justice K.T. Thomas and lead investigator D.R. Kaarthikeyan have spoken out against carrying out the death penalty. My son has topped the Plus Two examination in prison and he has reformed many others by involving them in education, sports and cultural activities,” she added.

[SwamyG]

BRFites do not have even have the courtesy to address another BRfite by name, and speak hi-funda talk like a typical armchair critic. Signs of knee jerking is when assumptions galore and there is no effort to clarify. Internet jingoism and stupidity will never die I guess.

[Surya]

yesssss a song from pentaiah

thanks buddy

[Prem]

Indian president 'rejects mercy plea' for Veerappan gang accused
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21450046

The four men facing execution were initially given life terms in jail. When they appealed, the Supreme Court took the rare decision to recommend they be given death sentences. The daughter of Pilavendran, one of the men, said he was innocent. "My father was never part of the Veerappan gang. He did not participate in any criminal activities. In fact he was working in Erode district far away from location of the landmine attack but he was picked up and tried," Josephine Pasca Mary told BBC Tamil.Activists now plan further appeals in the courts."All the accused were arrested in 1993 and are in prison for 19 years," Balamurugan said. "In 2004 they gave their mercy petition to the president and only now they got the reply. We will say keeping them on death row for over nine years violates their rights."
Executions are very rare in India - Afzal Guru's was only the second since 2004. Before him Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving attacker from the 2008 Mumbai attack was executed in November.

[Prem]

PM upset for delay in informing Afzal kin about hanging
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 11223.aspx

Amid widespread criticism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his displeasure to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde over the delay in informing Afzal Guru's family about his hanging. Singh told Shinde that Guru's family should have been nformed in advance about the
The Prime Minister conveyed his displeasure to the home minister on the sidelines of the Governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, they said.The sources said the Prime Minister told Shinde that it was alright to be tough on terror but the delay in informing Guru's family was not how "state craft" is conducted.The government had sent a letter through speed post, despatched Friday last, to Guru's family in Sopore in Kashmir and it reached them only on Monday, about 51 hours after the execution.Singh took exception to the decision to inform the family by post, the sources said.

[RamaY]

Moun Mohan Singh telling others how "state craft" is conducted

I am sure Shinde farted in PMO on his way out.

[Sanku]

Two parasites run out of a agenda to mooch off

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/nandi ... herstories

New Delhi: Citing "unseemly controversies", ND Pancholi and Nandita Haksar on Wednesday quit as the family lawyers of Afzal Guru, the Parliament attack convict who was hanged on February 9.

[Anindya]

DNA special: Tyagi was on Track-2 to bundle army out of Siachen heights

Once word about the Track-2 discussions was leaked out, a furious storm raged through the strategic community as scores of senior retired military personnel reacted with outrage at the "selling out" on Siachen. Many of them pointed out that India was at a strategic advantage in Siachen and except for one area in the Central Glacier, India was in a commanding position.

"Any change in this would mean a major strategic blunder," wrote Lt Gen PC Katoch, who had served as a Siachen brigade commander. He also pointed out that none from the Indian delegation had ever served on the Siachen Glacier.

In one of the briefing sessions that was organised in Delhi to assuage these fears, former army chief General NC Vij reacted with horror when the delegation was briefing the group.

"Why should anybody be discussing Siachen at all with the Pakistanis, and nor should we be discussing our Cold Start Doctrine with them," he told the delegation.

[member_23629]

The Track-2 dialogue started under the aegis of the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, an organisation under the National Defence University of the United States of America and the Ottawa University.

This Track II is a Gora project to get its Munna's tail out from the fire of Siachin. India traitors, of course, have tagged along for personal benefit and foreign junkets. Tyagi may be getting blackmailed by CIA due to bribery in helicopter deal.

[krithivas]

The PM forgot that Ms. Gandhi instructed Mr. Shinde to search for the elusive hindoo terrorists and establish their missing links with the Himalayan Yeti. That is priority for Mr. Shinde and everything else must wait including real work.

PM upset for delay in informing Afzal kin about hanging
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 11223.aspx

Amid widespread criticism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his displeasure to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde over the delay in informing Afzal Guru's family about his hanging. Singh told Shinde that Guru's family should have been nformed in advance about the
The Prime Minister conveyed his displeasure to the home minister on the sidelines of the Governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, they said.The sources said the Prime Minister told Shinde that it was alright to be tough on terror but the delay in informing Guru's family was not how "state craft" is conducted.The government had sent a letter through speed post, despatched Friday last, to Guru's family in Sopore in Kashmir and it reached them only on Monday, about 51 hours after the execution.Singh took exception to the decision to inform the family by post, the sources said.

[rgsrini]

BRFites do not have even have the courtesy to address another BRfite by name, and speak hi-funda talk like a typical armchair critic. Signs of knee jerking is when assumptions galore and there is no effort to clarify. Internet jingoism and stupidity will never die I guess.

Here you go SwamyG. Corrected the "discourteous mistake" of not addressing you by your name.

I think we can safely say that most of us are "armchair" variety in this forum. I was just "critic"ing you, while you were criticing the people who pledge their life and protect our security everyday. My support is always going to be with them and I am going to overlook their faults and errors, even if there are any. My sympathies will never lie with the terrorists, even if his/her rights were trampled upon a bit, because frankly, I don't care for his rights.

It is easy to sit as an "armchair critic" and criticize fellow Indians who are on the field saying, "Indian security forces should be more careful. They should use their smile more than the bullets. You can easily disarm someone with a great smile, don't you think?".

Also, the terrorists are more educated these days. They will mislead the investigation on purpose in the hope that the police reports will contain a lot of loopholes/mistakes, that can be exploited by the lawyers. They will also scream "torture, rights violation" from the moment they were captured. Atleast BRF folks should not fall for such things and start doubting our security forces.

[ramana]

The Track-2 dialogue started under the aegis of the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, an organisation under the National Defence University of the United States of America and the Ottawa University.

This Track II is a Gora project to get its Munna's tail out from the fire of Siachin. India traitors, of course, have tagged along for personal benefit and foreign junkets. Tyagi may be getting blackmailed by CIA due to bribery in helicopter deal.

This NDU is a Pentagon institute and our fools think its just a university!

[ramana]

Despite MMS mumbling, what kind of a speed post is that is sent on Friday and reaches on Monday after the execution on Saturday?

Looks like it was a tortoise speed post used by Shinde.
It causes needless ranocur to do such stupid things.


As I said Afzal Guru and his family are Indians.

[putnanja]

It was deliberate. Speed Post guarantees delivery in 1 (or max 2) days. they sent it on friday during office working hours, which probably means it went out end of day, Friday. Execution was at dawn on Saturday. How can they expect the letter to reach before execution?

If it reached before execution, then it can't remain a secret anymore, can it? and media and others can pressurize the government??

[Sachin]

It was deliberate. ....... If it reached before execution, then it can't remain a secret anymore, can it? and media and others can pressurize the government??

I too feel the same. The requirement as per the law has been met, but perhaps the "spirit" of the law was side lined. I dont blame the Govt. in this case, as they expected Kashmiri terrorist sympathisers would try their tricks if this news gets leaked out. What I could make out was that for Kasab as well as Afsal Guru, the government was expecting trouble from certain quarters of Indian society. So they played a small trick by keeping things secret.

Where as for the four pals of Mr.Veeru, I feel that government does not expect much hue and cry. So every thing is carried out in the "letter and spirit" of the rules & regulations. Tamil politicians seems to be in radio silence. Karnataka, I guess is least bit bothered. Intellectuals of the 100% literate state also seems to have ignored it (there were some jokers out there, who condemned the hanging of Afsal Guru). Only "The Hindu" seems to be taking the usual line .
'They were just leading normal lives'
Wife of convict on death row cries for mercy
Kin of Veerappan’s associates meet Vaiko
* The tone of all the articles is that these people were all framed using false charges. Fine, let us take it that police fudged evidence. These folks were tried by three level of courts. And in one case the Hon. SC even increased the quantum of punishment. So for 'The Hindu' these people were all fools who did not know what to do. Only 'The Hindu' and the relatives of the accused (and NOT the victims) can see the truth.

[nelson]

Contrary to public expectation Pranab has commuted the Death sentence of a convict to Life imprisonment, in the recent past. May be it is an exception.

http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Home ... tition.htm

[member_20036]

Dhar tense over Bhojshala row
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 11918.aspx

A day before Basant Panchami, Hinduand Muslim groups on Thursday dug in heels over praying rights at the disputed Bhojshala monument in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar.
The Archaeological Survey of India, which protects the structure, has allowed Hindus to celebrate Basant Panchami at the site on Friday, but earmarked noon to 3.30pm for Muslims to offer namaz.
Kashi Sumeru Peeth Shankaracharya Narendranand Saraswati dismissed the ASI formula.

[chaanakya]

It was deliberate. ....... If it reached before execution, then it can't remain a secret anymore, can it? and media and others can pressurize the government??

I too feel the same. The requirement as per the law has been met, but perhaps the "spirit" of the law was side lined. I dont blame the Govt. in this case, as they expected Kashmiri terrorist sympathisers would try their tricks if this news gets leaked out. What I could make out was that for Kasab as well as Afsal Guru, the government was expecting trouble from certain quarters of Indian society. So they played a small trick by keeping things secret.

Where as for the four pals of Mr.Veeru, I feel that government does not expect much hue and cry. So every thing is carried out in the "letter and spirit" of the rules & regulations. Tamil politicians seems to be in radio silence. Karnataka, I guess is least bit bothered. Intellectuals of the 100% literate state also seems to have ignored it (there were some jokers out there, who condemned the hanging of Afsal Guru). Only "The Hindu" seems to be taking the usual line .
'They were just leading normal lives'
Wife of convict on death row cries for mercy
Kin of Veerappan’s associates meet Vaiko
* The tone of all the articles is that these people were all framed using false charges. Fine, let us take it that police fudged evidence. These folks were tried by three level of courts. And in one case the Hon. SC even increased the quantum of punishment. So for 'The Hindu' these people were all fools who did not know what to do. Only 'The Hindu' and the relatives of the accused (and NOT the victims) can see the truth.

They will be hanged, no doubt. They deserved death penalty no doubt about that. There is no miscaariage of justice. These brigands were responsible for hundreds of deaths including many police men from both Karnatakan and tamilnadu. I did follow this case very closely and was relieved to see the news of Veerappan dead. STF chief VijayKumar has rose in esteem in my eyes as are many others including Walter Davaram. if any politician raise a hint of even whimper he will find himself utterly isolated and also bereft of any police cover.

These are the animals , who were responsible for almost wiping out elephant population in Tamilnadu and Karnataka border areas and in the process killed scores of men at the same time taunting them and challenging them.

[chaanakya]

Despite MMS mumbling, what kind of a speed post is that is sent on Friday and reaches on Monday after the execution on Saturday?

Looks like it was a tortoise speed post used by Shinde.
It causes needless ranocur to do such stupid things.


As I said Afzal Guru and his family are Indians.

That is the saddest part. He was traitor. Kasab was enemy and what he did was , perhaps his duty to his country and got caught, though not meant to, and died in the process. He might deserve respect but not afzal guru . He would remain a traitor and died a traitors death.

[member_19686]

Dhar tense over Bhojshala row

Background:

Nothing could be further from the truth; under the paramAra-s exemplified by bhoja (as also their rivals) education had clearly spread wider and there was a conscious effort to provide institutional education which was epitomized by the bhojashAlA. Thus, the period comes out, in sharp contrast to its characterization in the above quotations, as one where the rulers not only sought to protect their people but also educate them. It was precisely the institutions such as these that were targeted and destroyed by the Mohammedans – it suffices to note that the bhojashAlA today serves as a monstrous Masjid where Hindus are not allowed to enter on Friday lest the muezzin and his blood-curdling bearded hordes be offended.

http://manasataramgini.wordpress.com/20 ... %E2%80%9D/

It is this impression which is reflected when the jaina AchArya merutu~Nga states that two commodities were always precious and in demand in the kingdom of bhoja: Iron and Copper. Iron because of the excessive consumption by his military, and copper for the prashasti plates for donations! We might probably add the construction of temples and schools to the list. It was not the royal charity alone, but also the works performed by the merchants of his kingdom, such as in the famous bhojashAlA university, its central figure the vAgdevI of dhArAvatI was commissioned not by bhoja, but by a jaina lady named soShA hailing from a merchant family of his capital from her own money.

http://bharatendu.com/2009/07/31/hindu- ... d-charity/

[Hari Seldon]

Anyone know what's happening in Asom? Who are these 'irate protestors' exactly? IIRC< Dhubri in lower Asom is currently Bangla muslim majority.

More violence in Assam panchayat polls: 2 killed in Dhubri district, curfew imposed

The supporters of contestants attacked police and BSF men at a counting centre in Hatsingimari subdivision, under Mancachar assembly constituency in Dhubri district, alleging that the the process for counting was delayed, official sources said.

The angry supporters attacked the security personnel by pelting stones at them and the vote counting personnel leading to a chaotic situation, the sources said.

The irate protesters were lathicharged but when the situation turned violent, security forces opened fire to quell the mob.

Two persons died on the spot and seven others were critically wounded, sources said and added four security men were also seriously wounded in the clash and admitted to hospital.

[SSridhar]

Maulana Madani anguished over Afzal's hanging - The Hindu

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind general secretary Mahmood A. Madani has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressing anguish at the manner of hanging of Afzal Guru.

Mr. Madani said he believed in “zero tolerance” toward terrorism and felt let down by the government which, by mishandling the Afzal case, had alienated a community and set back the process of reconciliation with the Kashmiri people.

I do not understand this. If the 'whole community' feels alienated, they should do something about terrorism by muslim groups. If they shy away from that 'community' responsibility, why do they raise this issue alone ?

[SSridhar]

STF begins combing operations in Kerala-Tamilnadu border - The Hindu

Areas like Cherambadi along the Nilgiris-Kerala border witnessed heightened security activity on Friday with a significant presence of Special Task Force (STF) personnel.

Enquiries by The Hindu revealed that the personnel had been moved into the border areas on Thursday evening from the STF camp in Sathyamangalam in Erode district.

It followed reports of movement of naxalites in Kannur and the surrounding areas in Kerala.

Police sources said that since a search in Kannur may lead to ultras entering Wayanad, the Kerala police were engaged in combing operations there.

[ramana]

Many folks from Arundhati Roy to MMS to odd jihadi sympathizers had bemoaned the execution of Afzal Guru.

They need to be reminded of what he did. Paki terrorists hosted by him attacked the Lok Sabha and killed the policemen. That incident triggered the most massive mobilization by India in Operation Parakram. Also the car bomb that Afzal and his cohort put together did not go off in the wet foggy weather in Delhi or damage would have been more.

Constable Kamlesh Kumari died in that attack:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamlesh_Kumari

Kamlesh Kumari was posted near the X-ray machine at Gate No. 12 of the Parliament House. She saw the ambassador brand car bearing the license number plate DL 3C J 1527 heading from Vijay Chowk towards the gate. Kamlesh was the first security person to walk up to the car. Kamlesh, realising something was amiss, ran towards the gate to shut it. The terrorists, their cover blown, opened fire. Eleven bullets struck Kamlesh in the stomach and she fell. It was 11:50 in the morning.

Kamlesh's alertness prevented a suicide bomber among the terrorists from executing his plan; the closing of Gate No. 1 and the alarm raised gave time for other security personnel to take positions and shoot the would-be bomber.
[edit]

[Five policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were killed, and 18 others were injured]

But then MMS was never elected and so what does he know the meaning of attack on Lok Sabha means?

Did MMS ever talk to the two daughters of Mrs Kamlesh Kumari who died while foiling the attack?

By coming up with frivolous and dubious excuses of queue etc they (PC, MMS, INC handlers) cruelly played with the emotions of AfzalGuru's family giving false hope and now talk of prompt intimation of execution notice to his family!

And glad Shinde the former police man took the step and settled the accounts/
Thanks to Pranab Da for keeping the izzat of Lok Sabha.

[Pratyush]

^^^

The government of India has turned the security of India into a sick joke. By introducing Hindu terror, has weakened the Indian anti terror policies. While at the same time Hindus arrested on the allegations of terrorism have been languishing in jails for years without fair trial. No one is bothered about their plight.

[rohitvats]

<SNIP>This NDU is a Pentagon institute and our fools think its just a university!

Well, the goras have been at it for a long time.

As I pointed out when the CBM Paper on Siachen came out from these 'talks', it was nothing but same proposal "JOINTLY" presented by Kanwal and an Ex-PA Brigadier at Sandia Laboratories - that too, some years before this process - in 2007 to be precise. There is even a joint paper in 1998 by a JNU Professor and Pakistan based analyst on similar lines.

So not only Pentagon, but Culinary Institute has been at it for a very long time.

The agenda had been set before hand - the delegation was just an eye-wash and to give the proposal a modicum of authority - coming as it would be from a group of ex-Services, Intelligence and Foreign Ministry blokes.

Time permitting, I'm going to write a series of detailed posts for my blog covering all the aspects of Siachen issue. Hopefully, should start from tomorrow.