•The media has consistently failed to highlight that Afzal Guru was convicted and sentenced not for masterminding or executing the attack but as just a conspirator ‘Patil hangs govt between Afzal Guru and Sarabjit,’. The Supreme Court admitted that there was no direct evidence that linked Afzal to the crime, but awarded the death sentence, believing that only this would “assuage the collective conscience of the nation”. The collective conscience that periodically bays for the blood of this man is shaped by the messages it absorbs from the media.

— Sonia Jabbar

New Delhi

Soft on terror

•Shivraj Patil’s statement, drawing a parallel between Afzal Guru and Sarabjit Singh, was irresponsible and shocking. Afzal Guru is an Indian national, convicted and sentenced to death under Indian law for his alleged link to the attack on the seat of Indian democracy. Sarabjit Singh is an Indian national, sentenced to death by Pakistan for alleged involvement in blasts in Pakistan. Throughout his trial, Sarabjit was wrongly identified. Moreover, Sarabjit’s family and friends, and most importantly, Pakistan’s former human rights minister, Ansar Burney, has said that Sarabjit’s appears to be a case of mistaken identity.

There is absolutely no similarity between the two cases, and even the Pakistan government hasn’t taken the stand our home minister has. The government has been sitting on Afzal Guru’s mercy petition for long. Patil’s statement reveals that the UPA doesn’t intend to carry out the Supreme Court’s verdict. If any proof of the UPA being soft on terror was required, Patil’s statement has provided it.

... contd.