3 days after Afzals execution, family receives letter

Cries of mourning broke out again in household of Guru this morning when a postman delivered letter from Superintendent (Jail), Tihar Jail informing about Afzal Gurus execution on February 9. Toufiq Rashid reports

Cries of mourning broke out again in household of Guru this morning when a postman delivered letter from Superintendent (Jail), Tihar Jail informing about Afzal Gurus execution on February 9.

According to family the letter addressed to Tabasum, who had filed the mercy plea, informed the family about execution. The letter had address of Guru's ancestral village.

``We got the letter early morning today. Though we refused to accept it initially some of our relatives prevailed on us to see the contents,'' said Aijaz Guru, Afzals elder brother.

``What is the need of getting the letter delivered when the execution has happened threedays back,'' he added.

According to the family the letter says that the Mercy plea has been rejected and execution will happen on Saturday morning.

Parliament attack convict Afzal was hanged and buried in Tihar jail on February 9. Although government had claimed that Guru's family was informed about the execution, the family had claimed otherwise.

The postman delivered the letter inspite of strict curfew and cordon of the area around Guru's house. The house for last two days has been out of bounds for even close neighbours.

``The postmen said that they had to park their car at a distance from our house but were allowed to walk from there,'' he said.

``Though government has been claiming that the letter was send on February 6, the postal stamp from Delhi has February 8 written on it,'' he added.

The family said that letter getting delivered now was a `crude joke'.

``Its like rubbing salt on our wounds,'' he said.

The family meanwhile is waiting for a positive response from the government to offer prayer (namaze-Janaza) and perform last rites at Afzals grave in Tihar jail.