Omar Abdullah was not required to give consent to the carrying out of Afzal Guru’s death sentence. But his opponents are falsely giving an impression that he did.
While the government must stand firm in the face of protests against the hanging of a terrorist under due process, and squarely face a negative political backlash that may emerge, it seems unlikely the Kashmir political situation will worsen precipitately following Saturday’s hanging of Afzal Guru.
Separatist groups always clutch at straws. They are on the lookout for any argument with which to beat governments at the Centre and in the state, and may be expected to whip up public sentiments against the state authorities and against Delhi. Kashmir’s main Opposition party, the Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party, is as opportunist as any in the country and will miss no opportunity to attack chief minister Omar Abdullah as she is doing in this case.
These are good reasons for backing Mr Abdullah to the hilt even when he expresses himself against the hanging. As a politician who must fight unscrupulous politicians on many fronts on home turf, the chief minister cannot be entirely blamed for seeking to glide over the key issue — the judicially established guilt in the Parliament attack case — when it comes to the administering the death penalty to a fellow Kashmiri when it has caught public attention locally.
Mr Abdullah has not questioned the judicial findings. He has instead emphasised subsidiary issues, such as the family of Guru not being informed of the hanging in advance (and some others). On the political side, he rightly asks why the PDP is criticising him and not the Congress (with which his National Conference is in alliance in the state and at the Centre), which runs the show in New Delhi.
As the crime for which Guru was charged (and given the maximum penalty) was not committed in Kashmir, the Abdullah government had no role to play whatsoever in the discussion on Guru’s punishment. He was not required to give consent to the carrying out of the death sentence. But his political opponents in the state are falsely seeking to give the impression that he did. This is par for the course in Kashmir’s political discourse which frequently relies on contrived constructs and half-baked conspiracy theories. Mr Abdullah has to fight it out politically, and he needs to be supported in doing so.
There is little danger of his government keeling over under protests as the enormity of the crime involving Guru is not doubted. If violent mob actions follow, the government should tackle it sensibly, unlike in 2010. Newspapers must be allowed to circulate. These are the only means to check motivated rumours.
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