Open grave comes up for Afzal Guru

An empty grave and headstone carrying an Urdu epitaph: executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's supporters have found him a new address in Srinagar's Shaheed Mazaar (martyrs' graveyard).

An empty grave and headstone carrying an Urdu epitaph: executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's supporters have found him a new address in Srinagar's Shaheed Mazaar (martyrs' graveyard).

HT Image

Despite the strict curfew, the grave came up practically overnight at the largest graveyard of Srinagar on Guru's "chelum", the fourth-day rituals.

The graveyard houses dozens of separatist leaders, militant commanders and civilians killed in the last two decades of violence that started in 1989.

Guru's family has refused to visit his grave at Delhi's Tihar jail and appealed to the government for getting his body back.

"We can pray for the departed soul anywhere. If Delhi is kind enough, let it tell us where to collect the body. We will bear all the expenses," said Guru's elder brother Aijaz Guru.

At the martyrs' graveyard, Guru's epitaph reads: "His remains are lying with the Indian government as a trust of the Kashmiri nation and we await its return".

Those buried at the graveyard include Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Farooq, father of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Abdul Ghani Lone, chief of Peoples Conference.