ARTICLE FROM: Arjun Natarajan < arjun.vmslaw@gmail.com > TOPIC: COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE......COLLECTIVE IGNORANCE The issue is, "whether, death penalty should be awarded to Mohammed Afzal Guru." There is no point in deviating from the issue, considering it from a wider perspective and reducing the issue to an academic debate, the motion being, "should death penalty be abolished." Doing so, shall mean camouflaging the truth with utopia by discussing about conferences attended by persons, who could individually do nothing, and collectively decided that nothing could be done. The issue should be considered within the boundaries of the existing law, and not on the basis of idealistic truths. Afzal's statement before the police described how Azhar (leader of J e M, at the instance of the ISI, instructed Ghazi Baba (commander of J e M in J&K) to attack important institutions in India. Afzal had arranged for the militants to bring explosives to the capital. In the capital, they met Shaukat Guru, Afsan Guru and Geelani. Apart from Afzal's description, there was no independent evidence available to the prosecution, hence the conspiracy brings about a nexus between ISI, Azhar, and Ghazi Baba. This conspiracy escaped any judgement....by the collective conscience of the society. The evidence of conspiracy against Afzal stands on his own testimony- he confessed that he bought one of the 5 men involved in the attack from Srinagar to Delhi and helped him buy a used car- and on the recovery of explosives from his house, and most crucially, on records of cellphone calls to the five. But the evidence is open to doubt. The explosives recovey record is not watertight. The police couldn't explain why they broke into his house during his absence while he was in jail - when the landlord had the key. The cellphone record traced several calls from the five men to number 98114-89429. The police allegedly impounded the instrument from Afzal while arresting him in Srinagar. The instrument had no sim card. So the only identity mark was its IMEI number, unique to each instrument. There are only two ways to find this tell-tale number: open the instrument, or dial a code and have the number displayed. But the officer who wrote the recovery memo said on oath that he neither opened nor operated the instrument. Besides, the testimonies regarding the date of purchase of the phone with a new sim card (December 4, 2001) and its first recorded operation (November 6, 2001, don't match. The conclusion is plain: the evidence is flaked by a grey realm which calls for leniency in determining not only Afzal's punishment, but his guilt as well. The courts took the contrary view. This grave flaw must be set right. I would like to defend Afzal's clemency on 3 grounds. Firstly, the chargesheet was against 12 persons. The masterminds were Azhar, Tariq Ahmed and Ghazi Baba. It is significant to note that they are Pakistanis. They have neither been arrested nor have they been tried. If Pakistan extradites them, then they shall escape the gallows. The Parliament was attacked de facto by 5 Pakistanis. They were responsible for the death of 9 members of the security forces. Afzal did not cause anyone's death, he did not injure anyone. He did not mastermind the attcak. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that there is no direct evidence of his involvement. Secondly, all the courts, including the Hon'ble Supreme Court, have acquitted him of the charges under POTA of belonging to any terrorist organisation....toast of unknown, for the health of the society whose collective conscience is the basis for the Apex Court's judicial pronouncement. Thirdly, he was denied a fair trial. The investigation was illegal. The courts noted that evidence was fabricated and he never had a lawyer who represented him. The Judge passed an order giving Afzal the right to cross-examine witnesses but it is a herculean task, even for a person with legal training but devoid of knowledge of criminal law. The provisions of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) have been grossly disregarded. The Supreme Court has held that, the incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender. Collective conscience.....of a society, some of whose members allegedly attacked Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani's office when he offered to defend Afzal. Collective conscience of a society, more than half of whose members, still do not know that Afzal is acquitted of all charges under the POTA. Collective conscience of a society which is still unaware of the fact that the victims of the attack have not yet been rehabilitated properly. Collective conscience of a society whose members are probably unaware of the fact that Afzal a former JKLF man surrendered and convinced others also to surrender. The Supreme Court has pronounced the verdict based on the collective conscience of a society, which is still unaware of the defence side of the story. The known, the unknown, and in between the doors, when shall we, the members of the society break on through to the other side? I am sorry to say, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has misunderstood collective ignorance and hatred based on one side of the story for collective conscience of the society. I say, this is gross miscarriage of justice. ABOUT ME: I am Arjun Natarajan, a student of law in V.M. Salgaocar College of Law, Miramar, Panaji, Goa. I like reading biographies and autobiographies, listening to country music and rock music from the 60s and 70s. Show My Name: checkbox Show My EmailID: checkbox |