Ishfaq-ul-Hassan | India Tomorrow
SRINAGAR, JANUARY 23—Weeks after the arrest of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davender Singh nicknamed “Torture”Singh for militant links, family of Afzal Guru broke their silence and demanded the return of his mortal remains and permission to visit his grave at Tihar Jail. Afzal Guru was hanged to death in February 2013 for his involvement in Parliament attack case of 2001.
“We want the return of mortal remains of Afzal Guru and permission to visit his grave so that we can offer fatiha (burial prayers). We also demand that his personal belongings should be handed over to us. I once went to Tihar but the officials asked for a formal application. Later, they told me to approach union home ministry. I did not approach home ministry because it could have become a political issue”, said Aijaz Ahmad Guru, elder brother of Afzal Guru.
Afzal Guru had exposed DySP Singh’s role in the entire Parliament attack conspiracy before his hanging, but that was largely ignored.
In a letter to his lawyer, Guru had accused Davinder Singh of having been linked to the conspiracy to attack the Indian Parliament. Guru had claimed that Davinder Singh had introduced him to one Mohammed and asked him (Guru) to take him to Delhi and arrange a rented accommodation for him in Delhi as Guru had studied in Delhi University and was well aware about the localities in the national capital.
But within days of Mohammed being ferried to Delhi and having been provided an accommodation for him by Afzal guru, Parliament attack took place on December 13, 2001 and Mohammed was identified as one of the five terrorists involved in the attack. Mohammed was gunned down, along with four others, by the police in retaliatory action.
Despite this disclosure, no inquiry was held against Davinder Singh and he was not only allowed to continue in his job but was also promoted and given sensitive assignment and last year awarded bravery medal. This has raised questions about his alleged involvement in conspiracies in other terrorist acts, suggesting that these were not real terrorist attacks but staged by someone within the police itself. The opposition parties are now demanding fresh probe in Pulwama attacks in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in February last year.
Singh, who was posted in anti-hijacking wing at Srinagar Airport, was arrested along with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu and Altaf when they were traveling in a car from Shopian district of South Kashmir on January 11. Singh was trying to drive the Hizbul commanders out of the valley.
Sources said it was Singh who tortured Guru before he was set free. Later, in December 2001, he was called by Singh and asked to ferry Mohammad to Delhi and put him in a safe house besides arrange a vehicle for him.
Guru was hanged and buried in Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013, after the then President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his mercy petition. Guru, along with deceased SAR Geelani, Showkat Guru and his wife Afshan Guru were charged with planning the attack on the Parliament on December 13, 2001.
Supreme Court later upheld the death sentence of Afzal Guru but acquitted SAR Geelani and Afshan. Showkat, hailing from Sopore, who was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, was released after completing his jail term in 2011. After the apex court verdict, Guru’s wife Tabassum and son Ghalib Guru met late president APJ Abdul Kalam and sought pardon for the Parliament attack convict.
“People have played politics in Afzal Guru’s name. Be it the then union government or Pakistan or leaders in Kashmir. Neither Afzal Guru nor his family has got justice. We feel he did not get the fair trial”, said Aijaz.
Guru’s family said there are hundreds of cases like Afzal Guru and all should be probed. “There are so many cases like Afzal Guru. Let government probe all that. There are people missing in custody. Their families are staging sit in day in and day out”, he said.
The family has broken their silence at a time when senior Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt’s mother Soni Razdan said Guru was made scapegoat in Parliament attack and demanded a probe into the incident.
“There needs to be a solid enquiry into why Afzal Guru was made the scapegoat. There should also be an enquiry as to how people like Afzal are tortured and forced to carry out terrorist activities for criminals and then get the death penalty”, tweeted Razdan.
