'This proves a politician should never become the Prez'

The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat -- an umbrella body of several Muslim Organisations -- has condemned the hanging of Afzal Guru.

The organisation’s president Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan told rediff.com that Guru's execution was unjustified.

“He did not get a fair trial. His assertions that he was sent to Delhi from Srinagar by a certain police officer were never heard or probed,” said Dr Khan.

“He did not take part in the actual attack. It has been known to the political class and the media for years that the public opinion in Kashmir valley will be outraged against this trial and the verdict. There is real risk of the revival of militancy as a result of the execution,” he said.

“As such, I think it was reckless on the part of the Indian polity to have taken this highly risky and dubious step, which is akin to the execution in 1983 of (JKLF founder) Maqbool Bhat, for a crime committed by others thousands of miles away in Britain, but which eventually triggered militancy in the valley,” said Dr Khan.

This reckless act is part of the political game Congress is playing to outdo the Vishwa Hindu Parishad/Bharatiya Janata Party’s plank. This also shows that a rank politician should never be elevated to the position of the President. We condemn this execution and consider it short-sighted and hasty,” he said.