Martyrs' kin vow to return medals

The families of cops killed in Parliament attack demand death penalty for Mohd Afzal by December 13 of this year.

The families of policemen killed in the terror attack on Indian Parliament have vowed to return the medals given to them if the government failed to announce death penalty by December 13 for one of the accused now facing capital punishment.

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The families said on Thursday that they were unhappy that the death sentence to Mohammed Afzal was not being carried out. The Parliament attack took place on December 13, 2001.

"At 11.40 am on December 13, we will return the medals to the president of India if Afzal's death penalty is not confirmed by the government by then," one of the family members of the dead policemen said.

Afzal's death sentence was last month confirmed by the Supreme Court but he has not been hanged as his mercy petition to President APJ Abdul Kalam is still pending. Kalam has forwarded the petition to the central government.

There have been demands from various quarters, especially in the trouble-torn state of Kashmir, that Afzal's sentence be changed to life imprisonment since he was not directly involved in the attack.

"These terrorists never spared the lives of people who defended Parliament. Even those martyrs had families. Afzal should be hanged," said Ganga Devi, mother of one of the dead policemen.