Guru, Pathribal classic cases of discrimination: Mehbooba

Jammu: While welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision to commute death sentence of Rajiv Gandhi murder convicts to life imprisonment, opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said reprieve given Late Gandhi’s assassins is a display of double standards in case of Jammu and Kashmir and rest of the country.

“They have sent a wrong signal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir that you continue to be treated differently. This process was on at the time of hanging of Afzal Guru,” said Mehbooba while addressing a press conference in Jammu.
According to a KNS correspondent, the PDP president said: “The same reprieve should have been given in Afzal Guru’s case. Reprieve to Mohammad Afzal Guru would have made the situation different in Kashmir. But Guru was hanged in most atrocious manner by the government of India  to which the National Conference is a partner.”
She said Guru was denied all judicial reliefs and it was ironic that death sentence was commuted in case of the killer of Rajiv Gandhi who also symbolized nationalism like the Parliament does. Mehbooba said that even the experts have termed whole investigations faulty the judicial process leading Guru to gallows partisan.
She said the evidence marshaled and the quality of investigations process had raised many a questions among the think tank, legal luminaries and the intellectuals of the country.   Referring to Delhi rape and murder case in which one guilty was sent to juvenile home, Mehbooba said that these cases are classic examples of the discrimination Guru met at the hands of establishment.
Mehbooba said that besides Guru’s hanging, double standards were also adopted in case of Pathribal fake encounter where, she said the CBI proved the involvement of army personnel. She said that CBI had went upto the supreme court that unfortunately did not adjudicate the matter itself and instead handed over it to the army court which closed the matter in open.
“When I visited the spot in Pathribal people told me that one body was cut in pieces and thrown to dogs. Even we could see the bits of flesh scattered and people told that bodies were mutilated in order to conceal their identities. Is this our justice system of which we are proud,” Mehbooba questioned.
While appreciating the investigations into Gujrat fake encounter cases, the PDP president said that why the government of India remains incapacitated in case of similar encounters in Kashmir. (KNS)