Legislator Abdul Rasheed has again pitched for an amnesty for 2002 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and said he plans to seek a fresh resolution on the issue in the upcoming budget session of the J&K assembly.
The last time Rasheed brought a resolution on the matter — during the
autumn session of the House in October 2011 — it was not voted on.
On Sunday, at a public gathering in his constituency Langate, Rasheed said, "The Guru issue should be seen through the prism of humanity and not politics. I expect all lovers of humanity to support amnesty for Guru."
The MLA is planning to bring the resolution as a private member in the assembly session scheduled to begin in the third week of February. But he called for a joint resolution from the ruling National Conference (NC) and opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Claiming that he was in touch with leaders of both parties, Rasheed said, "This is the time when both parties, which claim to represent Kashmiri sentiment, can prove their sincerity and seriousness.”
The sentence for Guru is a sensitive issue in Kashmir. Many feel he had not received a fair trial and the state government expects repercussions if he is executed. Rasheed had moved the resolution after the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a resolution seeking clemency for the three killers of Rajiv Gandhi.