"Read Afzal's story in his words and choose what kind of society you want to live in." - Nandita Haksar.

"Read Afzal's story in his words and choose what kind of society you want to live in." - Nandita Haksar.

1

Contents

1. Foreword 3

2. Mohammad Afzal's Letter to All India 9

Defence Committee for SAR Geelani

3. Mohammad Afzal's Letter to his Lawyer, 13

Sushil Kumar, Sr. Advocate, Supreme Court

4. Afzal's wife's Appeal 25

5. Resolution passed jointly by Kashmiri Leaders 29

6. Afzal's Letter to SPDPR. 33

7. How Can You Help 34

8. Mission Statement 3523

Foreword

"The quality of a nation's civilization can be largely measured by

the method it uses in the enforcement of its criminal law."

"The first obligation of the criminal justice system is to secure justice

by seeking and substanting truth through proof. Of course the

means must be as good as the ends and the dignity of the individual

and freedom of the human person cannot be sacrificed by resort

to improper means, however, worthy the ends… Safety of society

and the worth of the human person may co-exist in peace."

… Quoted in the Supreme Court judgement in

Parliament attack case.

I believe that if Mohammad Afzal is hanged it will be a severe blow

to the future of Indian democracy. Why do I say this? Because the

hanging would further institutionalize the growing lawlessness of

the police; it would strengthen the growing authoritarianism of the

Indian state; it would undermine the peace process in Kashmir

and give fillip to the Hindu fascist forces. Let me substantiate each

of these points with hard facts and then you, the reader can judge

for yourself whether you want to allow Mohammad Afzal to be

hanged in the name of your country.

Police lawlessness:

It is true that the attack on the Indian Parliament was the most

serious challenge to our democracy and if it had been successful

it would have had very long term consequences for the entire

region. Precisely for this reason it was imperative that the police

and investigation agencies should have carried out an honest and

vigorous investigation into the crime. Instead, the investigation

agencies did a shoddy investigation, fabricated evidence and

manipulated the nation's sentiments by telling lies through the

media.

The investigating agencies failed to arrest the three people who

they said had masterminded the conspiracy to attack the

Parliament: Masood Ahzar, Ghazi Baba and Tariq Ahmad. Then

the police try to say that one of the five men who attacked our

Parliament was the same man who had hijacked the Indian Airlines

plane to Afghanistan. However, it was soon discovered that this4

was not true. In fact we still do not know the identities of the five

men who attacked the Parliament and they were all killed.

The investigating agencies along with the Special Cell of the Delhi

Police picked up four persons and charged them with the offence

of conspiring to attack the Parliament. And after the arrest they

carried out a media trial to make up for the deficiencies in their

investigation. They held a media conference on December 20, 2001

in the Special Cell, Lodi Road where they made Mohammad Afzal

incriminate himself on the national media. Then in the court under

oath the DCP Ashok Chand denied having had such a conference.

The Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court noted that this senior

police officer told lies on oath in the court.

The Courts also noted that the police lied about the time and place

of arrest of the accused; they fabricated evidence including the

arrest memos and used torture to extract false confessions from

the accused. The result of this shoddy investigation was that two

of the accused that the police had tried to frame in the case were

acquitted because there was no evidence against them at all. The

two acquitted are S A R Geelani and Navjot Sandhu wife of Shaukat

Guru. Supreme Court also reduced the sentence of Shaukat Guru

from death to ten years rigorous imprisonment.

The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against Afzal Guru

despite the fact the court held that there was no direct evidence

against him.

No direct evidence

The Supreme Court categorically stated that there was no evidence

to show that Mohammad Afzal was a member of any banned

organization. In fact the Court acquitted Afzal of the charges under

POTA. They held: "The conviction under section 3 (2) of POTA is

set aside. The conviction under section 3 (5) of POTA is also set

aside because there is no evidence that he is a member of a terrorist

organization, once the confessional statement is excluded.

Incidentally, we may mention that even going by confessional

statement, it is doubtful whether the membership of a terrorist gang

or organization is established."

None of the 80 prosecution witnesses ever even alleged that Afzal

was in any way associated or belonged to any terrorist organization.

Despite these facts the police and a section of the media still refer

to Afzal as a "JeM activist".

Does Mohammad Afzal have to pay the price for the shoddy and5

illegal investigation by the corrupt and communal officers of the

Special cell? And the main Investigating Officer, ACP Rajbir Singh

is facing serious corruption charges and has been removed from

the Special cell. Another officer was himself arrested on corruption

charges.

Rarest of rare cases

Under Indian law death sentence can be awarded only in rarest of

rare cases. There is no doubt that the offence Afzal has been

accused of is serious. It is very serious indeed. But the question is

not the seriousness of the offence but what role, if any Afzal played

and whether the death sentence is in accordance with the principles

of natural justice and equity.

The Supreme Court has not passed any strictures against the

corrupt officers for their shoddy and illegal investigation and has

held there is no direct evidence against Afzal. However, they have

confirmed the death sentence because they believe that his death

is necessary to assuage the feeling of Indian citizens.

I quote from the judgement: "The incident, which resulted in heavy

casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective

conscience of the society will be satisfied if the capital punishment

is awarded to the offender. The challenge to the unity, integrity

and sovereignty of India by these acts of terrorists and conspirators

can only be compensated by giving the maximum punishment to

the person who is proved to be a conspirator in this treacherous

act. The appellant, who is a surrendered militant and who was

bent upon repeating the acts of treason against the nation, is a

menace to the society should become extinct. Accordingly we

uphold the death sentence."

Can the collective conscience of the Indian people be satisfied if a

fellow citizen is hanged without even allowing him to defend

himself?

The Supreme Court noted that Afzal was denied access to any

lawyer at the stage of interrogation. The Court held: "The access

to a lawyer at the stage of interrogation serves as a sort of

counterweight to the intimidating atmosphere that surrounds the

detenu and gives him certain amount of guidance as to his rights

and obligations of the police."

Afzal denied legal assistance

Afzal comes from an economically poor family and did not have

the means to engage a lawyer. He was the only one of the four6

accused who had no lawyer even though he was the most

vulnerable. Afzal asked the Designated Court to appoint a lawyer

for him and even gave a list of at least eight lawyers. However, the

lawyers refused to represent him out of fear of being dubbed antinational. When Mr Ram Jethmalani, senior counsel and Member

of Parliament offered to defend Geelani the Shiv Sena goons

ransacked his office in Mumbai. Such is the patriotism of the Hindu

fascist forces.

Finally, the designated judge passed an order on July 12, 2002

appointing a junior lawyer as his amicus curiae and gave Afzal the

right to cross examine the witnesses. Everyone knows that a

criminal trial requires knowledge of criminal law procedures and it

is impossible for a layman to conduct a proper cross examination

without legal assistance.

Afzal tried to get legal assistance and if you read his letter to the

All India Defence Committee for SAR Geelani and to his lawyer at

the Supreme Court you will know how cruelly Afzal was denied an

opportunity to defend himself.

A section of the media and the Hindu fascist forces think that by

hanging Mohammad Afzal without even listening to his story is a

legitimate assertion of nationalism. They are indeed victims of the

ideology of Islamophobia spawned by the US war against terrorism.

But even in the USA the jury trying Zacarias  Moussaoui for

committing acts of terror transcending national boundaries was

more compassionate than our courts. Zacarias was not given death

penalty even though he was involved in the conspiracy to attack

the twin towers on September 11, 2001. The reason why he was

not given death penalty was because he has an "unstable childhood

and dysfunctional family resulted in his being placed in orphanages

and having a home life without structure and emotional and financial

support eventually resulting in his leaving home due to his hostile

relationship with his mother."

If the courts had heard Afzal's story they would have realized that

his case cannot be judged or separated from the story of Kashmir

Valley and its tortured history of oppression and domination. There

is no way to judge Mohammad Afzal without understanding and

taking into account the political context of the conflict between the

Indian state and people of Kashmir.7

Afzal's story

On October 21, 2004 the Kashmir Times carried Afzal's wife's

Appeal. It was reproduced in the Asian Age on Novemeber 4, 2004.

The letter is reproduced in this pamphlet and from Tabassum's

story you will understand the tragedy facing the people of Kashmir.

Afzal has corroborated the facts in his long letter to Sushil Kumar

the senior advocate who appeared for him in the Supreme Court.

However, the facts in the letter were never put on record before

the courts.

It is only when we read about the lives of Afzal and Tabassum that

we begin to understand the outrage of the people of Kashmir against

the death sentence awarded to Afzal. The people of Kashmir have

been pouring out in the streets to vent their anger, resentment and

anguish not only against a death sentence but for them Mohammad

Afzal is a symbol of Kashmiri people's resistance to Indian state's

Kashmir policy. A Resolution passed and signed by all the Kashmiri

leaders included in this collection of documents reflects the feelings

of Kashmiri people.

The death sentence on Afzal reminds the people of Kashmir of

how the Indian State hanged Maqbul Bhatt in the 1980s. It was

soon after that the Kashmiris took to armed resistance. Afzal's

death sentence has united all Kashmiris across ideological lines.

Would it not be wise to learn from past mistakes and understand

that judicial murder and state revenge can never lead to justice or

bring peace to Kashmir Valley or to our region? The fight for

Mohammad Afzal's life is a fight for all that is good and meaningful

in Indian democracy; the cry for revenge and his death represents

the dehumanized and authoritarian aspects of the Indian State

and civil society.

 Read Afzal's story in his words and choose what kind of society

you want to live in.

Nandita Haksar

New Delhi

October 200689

Mohammad Afzal's Letter to All India Defence

Committee for SAR Geelani

The Chairman

All India Defence Committee

For S.A.R. Geelani

New Delhi

With respect and esteem I would like to inform your honorary

Committee that in The Trial of Parliament attack Case in the

designated session court Patiala house I (Mohammad AFZAL)

accused was not given defence aid / Amicus curie in spite of giving

Three applications for the lawyer of my own choice. Throughout

The Trial  I was not allowed To most of the witness, Police and

others To cross-question to Their Statements recorded by the

seesion court. Not a single witness was cross-questioned on behalf

of me by any legal aid. There were most of the witnesses which I

have seen for the first time in court and the court went on recording

their one-sided fabricated and self designed statements without

any argument or cross-questioning. I remained speechless mute

helpless spectator as I was not allowed to speak except few times.

When I was allowed to cross-question one of the media interviewer

of National T.V. Channel  Aaj Tak  named Shams Tahir, he

confirmed and replied that I (AFZAL) was under duress and threat

at the time of interview as I was threatened by the A.C.P Rajbeer

Singh before mediamen on replying to one of the questions  which

infact proved the complete innocence of  S.A.R Geelani.

The Court did not also gave me the recorded statements of The

Trial, which was going on, so it was impossible for me to know

what the court had recorded.

Being in high-security ward of Tihar Jail where it is too difficult to

communicate with outer people like lawyer etc., in a week, I had

seen a news Through Indian Express daily that my lawyer had

Told the High Court on behalf of me that I ( AFZAL) had accepted

the death sentence and I want only that method / way of killing /

hanging should be changed by injecting the Powerful Toxic injection

So as to reduce the pain of dying. I object and challenge this false

statement which has been actually given by lawyer himself without1011

my knowledge and consent  making my whole process of Appeal

a mockery.

The magnitude and the gravity of my unknowing , unwilling and

inintentional  involvement in the Parliament attack case was from

the beginning emotionalized and magnified by Police Through all

possible means due to my helplessness, ignorance of law (legal

process) and unability to manage The suitable legal aid. Thus the

police made me a scapegoat so as to mask their unability and

failure to trace out the mastermind of Parliament attack and to

make people fool. Keeping all these points and facts in view I am

requesting to your honorary that the reality of my fabricated

involvement in Parliament attack case should come out / exposed

before the people and Supreme Court of India. I hope that your

honourable committee will consider my humble request with

sympathy and I will be highly obliged .

Thank you

Yours humbly

Mohammad Afzal

S /o   Late Habibullah Guru

Ward No7 High-security ward

Jail No. 2  Tihar , New Delhi

Dated : 26 / 01 / 2004

Place :  Jail No. 2

Tihar, N. Delhi1213

Mohammad Afzal's Letter to his Lawyer,

Sushil Kumar, Sr. Advocate, Supreme Court

Respected Shri Sushil Kumar;

Hello (I)

I am extremely thankful and feel very much obligated to you that

you have taken up my case and decided to defend me. From the

beginning of this case I was neglected and had never been given

a chance to reveal the truth before media or in court. The designated

court did not provided me the lawyer inspite of giving three

applications. In the high court one human rights lawyer asked the

court that Afzal had expressed his desire that he want to be killed

by toxic injection rather by hanging which is absolutely false. I

never told this to my lawyer. Since that lawyer was not of my own

choice (or my family) but it was due to my helplessness and nonaccessibility to proper lawyer. Being locked up in high security jail

and without being in communication with that human rights lawyer

I could not change him or to convey my objection regarding my

death desire to highcourt as I came to know this after high court's

decision.

In the parliament attack case I was entrapped by Special Task

Force of Kashmir. Here in Delhi the designated court sentenced

me to death on the basis of special police version which workes in

nexus with STF, and also came under the influence of mass media

in which I was made to accept the crime under duress and threat

by special police A.C.P. Rajbir Singh. That threat even get

confirmed to designated court by T.V. interviewer (Shams Tahir

Aaj-Tak).

When I was arrested in Srinagar bus stand I was taken to STF

Headquarter from here the special police along with STF brought

me to Delhi. In Srinagar at Parompora Police Station everything of

my belongings was seized and then they beated me and threatened

me of dire consequences regarding my wife and family if I reveal

or disclose the reality before anybody. Even my younger brother

Hilal Ahmad Guru he was taken into police custody without any1415

warrant etc. and was kept there for 2-3 months. This was first told

to me by A.C.P. Rajbir Singh. Special police told me that if I will

speak according to their wishes they will not harm my family

members and also gave me false assurance that they will make

my case weak so that after sometime I will get released.

The most important priority I gave to safety of my family. As I know

from last seven years how the STF men kill, the Kashmiris, how

they had made youth invisible and had disappeared them while

killing them in custody. I am living and organic eye-witness to

various tortures and custodial killings and I am myself the victim of

STF terror and torture. Being an surrendered militant of JKLF I

was constantly harassed, threatened and agonized by various

security agencies like Army. B.S.F. and S.T. F., But since S.T.F.

is unorganized, without being accountable a band and gang of

renegades patronised by state government. They intrude every

house, every family everywhere in Kashmir anytime day or night.

If anybody is picked up by STF and his family came to know this,

then family members only wait to get his dead body which they

hope. But usually they never came to know his whereabouts. 6000

youthes have disappeared. Under these circumstances and under

this fearful environment persons like me are always ready to play

any dirty game in the hands of S.T.F. Just for the survival. The

people who are able to pay in terms of cash are not forced to do

the diryt things the way I did as I was not able to pay. Even one of

the  policeman of the same police station of Parimpora named

Akbar had extorted 5000 Rs. Long brfore attack and threatened

me that he will charge me as selling duplicate medicines and

surgical items of which I was doing business at Sopore, in 2000.

He came here in designated court and became a witness against

me. He was knowing me before parliament attack. In the court

room he told me in Kashmiri that my family is o.k. indirectly it was

a hidden threat which the designated court hardly could realise

otherwise in court I would have questioned him but before court

started recording his statement he told me this. Throughout the

trial I remained mute and helpless spectator as witnesses, police

and even judge they all became a single force against me. I1617

remained a frustrate bewildered and confused between the security

and safety of myself and my family. I protected and saved my

family. That is how I am lying in deathrow.

II. In 1997-98 I started a business of medicines and surgical

instruments on commission basis as I could not get a govt. job

due to the reason of being an surrendered militant. Because

surrendered militants were not given jobs. They were either to work

as SPOs or STF or to join the renegades under the patronage of

security forces or police. Everyday SPOs were get killed by

militants. In these conditions I started my commission based

business earning 4000Rs. – 5000Rs. per month. But since the

police informers (SPOs) usually harass those surrendered militants

who do not work with S.T.F. etc. From 98-2000 I usually used to

pay 300Rs. sometimes 500 Rs. to local SPO so as to keep myself

in business otherwise these SPO make us to present us before

security agencies. Even one of the SPO one day told me that they

too have to pay their bosses. As I was working hard in my business

my business flourished. One day at 10 AM I was on my Two wheeler

scooter that I had purchased just before two months. I was whisked

away by STF men in bullet proof gypsy to Palhallan camp. There

the D.S.P. Vinay Gupta tortured me, electrified me—put me in cold

water – used petrol—chillies and other techniques. He told me

that I possess weapons but at evening time one of his inspector

Farooq told me that if I can pay 1000,000 Rs. to him (D.S.P) I will

be released or they will kill me. Then they took me to Humhama

STF camp where D.S.P. Dravinder Singh also tortured me. One of

his torture inspector as they called him Shanty Singh electrified

me naked for 3 hours and made me drink water while giving electric

shocks through telephone instrument. Ultimately I accepted to pay

them 1000000Rs. for which my family sold the gold of my wife.

Even after this they could manage only 80000 Rs. Then they took

the scooter too which was just 2-3 months old which I bought for

24000Rs. Thus after getting 1lakh rupees they let me free. But

now I was a broken person. In the same Humhama STF camp

there was one more victim named Tariq. He suggested me that I

should always co-operate with STF otherwise they will always1819

harass and will not let me to live normal—free life. This was a

turning point of my life . I decided to live the way Tariq told me.

Since from 1990-1996 I had studied in Delhi University I was also

giving tuitions in different coaching centres and also home tuitions.

This fact reached to the man named Altaf Hussain who is brotherin-law of S.S.P. Ashaq Hussain of Budgam. Since it was this Altaf

Hussain who managed my family rather he became the broker

between my family and D.S.P. Humhama Dravinder Singh. Altaf

told me that I should teach his two children one on 12

th

 , 2

nd

 [second

one] in 10

th

 class as his children were not able to go outside for

tuition due to militant threat. Thus I became very close to Altaf's

and Altaf also. One day Altaf took me to Dravinder Singh (D.S.P.).

D.S. told me that I had to do a small job for him that has to took

one man to delhi as I was well aware about Delhi and has to manage

a rented house for him. Since I was not knowing the man but I

suspected that this man is not Kashmiri as he did not speak in

Kashmiri but I was helpless to do what Dravinder told me . I took

him to Delhi. One day he told me that he want to purchase a car.

Thus I went with him to Karol Bagh. He purchased the car. Then in

Delhi he used to meet different persons and both of us he

Mohammad and me used to get the different phone calls from

Dravinder Singh. One day Mohammad told me that if he want to

go back to Kashmir he can. He also gave me 35000Rs. and told

me that this gift is for you. 6 days or 8 days before I took a rented

room at Indra Vihar for my family as I decided to live in Delhi with

my family because I was not satisfied with my this life. I left the

keys of rented house to my land lady and told her that I will be

back after Eid festival on 14

th

 Dec. after parliament attack about

which there was a lot of tension. I contacted Tariq in Sgr. [Srinagar].

At evening he told me when I came back from Delhi. I replied just

one hour before. Next morning when I was about to leave to Sopore

from bus stand Sgr. police caught me and took me to Parampora

police station . Tariq was there also with STF. They took 35000

Rs. from my pocket, beated me and directly took me STF Head

Quarter. From there I was taken to Delhi. My eyes were blind folded.

Here I found myself in special police torture cell.2021

In special cell custody I told them everything regarding Mohammad

etc. but they told me that I Showkat his wife Navjot (Afshan) Geelani

are the people behind parliament attack. They too threatened me

regarding my family and one of the inspector told me that my

younger brother Hilal Ahmad Guru is in STF custody. They can lift

the other family members too if I don't co-operate with them. They

tried me and forced me to implicate Showkat his wife and Geelani

but I did not yield. I told them this is not possible. Then they told

me that I should not say anything about Geelani (be about his

innocence). After some days I was presented before media handcuffed. There were NDTV, Aaj tak, Zee news, Sahara TV etc.

Rajbeer Singh (A.C.P.) was also there. When one of the interviewer

Shams tahir told me what is the role of Geelani in parliament attack,

I just said that Geelani is innocent. This moment A.C.P. Rajbeer

Singh got up from his moving chair he shouted at me and told me

that he had already said me not to speak about Geelani in front of

everybody (Media-personnel). Rajbeer Singh's behaviour exposed

my helplessness and media personnel atleast came to know that

what Afzal is saying under threat or duress. Then Rajbir Singh

(A.C.P.) requested T.V. personel that the question regarding

Geelani should be washed away or not to be shown before public.

At evening time Rajbir Singh told me that if I want to talk [to] my

family. I replied in yes. Then I talked to my wife. After finishing my

phone he told me if I want to see my wife & family alive I must cooperate [with] them at every step. They took me to various places

in delhi. From where they showed that Mohammad had purchased

different things. They took me to Kashmir from where we came

back without doing anything. They made me to sign on atleast

200-300 blank pages.

I was never given an [a] chance in [the] designated court to tell the

real story. The judge told me that I will be given full opportunity to

speak at the end of case but at the end he even did not recorded

my all statements neither the court gave me whatever even court

recorded. If phone numbers recorded will be seen carefully the

court would have come to know the phone numbers of STF.2223

Now I hope that the Supreme Court will consider my helplessness

and the reality through which I had passed. STF made an [a]

scapegoat in all this criminal act which was designed and directed

by STF and others which I don't know. Special Police is definitely

the part of this game because every time they forced me to remain

silent. I hope my forced silence will be heard and justice will prevail.

I once again pay heart felt thanks to your good self for defending

my case. May truth prevail!

(Sd)

Mohammad Afzal

S/O Habibullah Guru

Ward No. 6(High Security Ward)

Jail No. 1, Tihar

New Delhi 1100642425

A Wife's Appeal

Asian Age: 04.11.04

I am the wife of Mohammad Afzal, the man accused of conspiring

to attack the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001. Afzal has

been condemned to death by the Sessions Court judge, SN Dhingra

and his death sentence has been confirmed by the Hon'ble High

Court of Delhi. Now the case has come up before the Hon'ble

Supreme Court of India.

All over India people have condemned the attack on Parliament.

And I agree that it was a terrorist attack and must be condemned.

However, it is also important that the people accused of such a

serious crime be given a fair trial and their story be fully heard

before they are punished. I believe that no one has heard my

husband's story and he has so far never been represented in the

court properly.

I appeal to you to hear our story and then decide for yourselves

whether justice has been done. Afzal and my story is the story of

many young Kashmiri couples. Our story represents the tragedy

facing our people.

In 1990 Afzal was attracted to the movement led by the JKLF, like

thousands of other youth. He went to Pakistan for training and

stayed there for a little while. However, he was disillusioned by

the differences between different groups and he did not support

pro-Pakistan groups. He stayed there only three months without

getting ant training. Afzal returned to Kashmir and he went to Delhi

to pursue his studies. He always wanted to study and before he

joined the movement he was doing his MBBS.

My husband wanted to return to normal life and with that intention

he surrendered to the BSF. The BSF commandant refused to give

him his certificate till he had motivated two others to surrender.

And Afzal motivated two other militants to surrender. He was given

a certificate stating that he was a surrendered militant. You will not

perhaps realize that it is very difficult to live as a surrendered militant

in Kashmir. But he decided to live with his family in Kashmir. In

1997 he started a small business of medicines and surgical

instruments in Kashmir. The next year we were married. He was

28 years old and I was 18 years.26

Throughout the period that he lived in Kashmir the Indian security

forces continuously harassed Afzal and told him to spy on people

they suspected of being militants. One Major Ram Mohan Roy of

22 Rashtriya Rifles tortured Afzal and gave him electric shocks to

his private parts. He was humiliated and abused.

The Indian security forces used to regularly take Afzal to their

camps and torture him. They wanted to extract information from

him. One night the Indian security forces came to our home and

abused all of us and took away Afzal to their camp another time he

was taken to the STF (State Task Force) camp Palhalan Pattan.

Some days later they took him to the Humhama STF camp. In that

camp the officers, DSP Vinay Gupta and DSP Darinder Singh

demanded Rs one lakh. We are not a rich family and we had to

sell everything, including the little gold I got on my marriage to

save Afzal from the torture.

Afzal was kept in freezing water and petrol was into his anus. One

officer Shanti Singh hanged him upside down for hours naked and

in the cold. They gave electric shocks in his penis and he had to

have treatment for days.

You will think that Afzal must be involved in some militant activities

that is why the security forces  were torturing him to extract

information. But you must understand the situation in Kashmir.

Every man, woman and child has some information on the

movement even if they are not involved. By making people into

informers they turn brother against brother, wife against husband

and children against parents. Afzal wanted to live quietly with his

family but the STF would not allow him.

You should also know that the STF force is notorious in Kashmir

for extorting money from the people and they have become so

infamous that when Mufti Saeed became the Chief Minister he

promised in his election manifesto to disband the entire force. The

STF is known for human rights violations including killing people

in their custody and brutal, senseless, inhuman torture.

It was under these conditions that forced Afzal to leave his home,

family and settle in Delhi. He struggled hard to earn a living and he

had decided to bring me and our four year old son, Ghalib, to Delhi.

Like any other family we dreamed of living together peacefully and27

bringing up our children, giving them a good education and seeing

them to grow up to be good human beings. That dream was cut

short when once again the STF got hold of my husband in Delhi.

The STF told my husband to bring one Mohammad to Delhi from

Kashmir. He met Mohammad and one other man Tariq there at

the STF camp. He did not know anything about the men and he

had no idea why he being asked to do the job. He has told all this

to the court but the court chose to believe half his statement about

bringing Mohammad but not the bit that he was told to do so by the

STF.

There was no one to represent Afzal in the lower court. The court

appointed a lawyer who never took instructions from Afzal, or cross

examined the prosecution witnesses. That lawyer was communal

and showed his hatred for my husband. When my husband told

Judge Dhingra that he did not want that lawyer the judge ignored

him. In fact my husband went totally undefended in the trial court.

When ever my husband wished to say something the judge would

not hear him out and the judge showed his communal bias in open

court.

In the High Court one human rights lawyer offered to represent

Afzal and my husband accepted. But instead of defending Afzal

the lawyer began by asking the court not to hang Afzal but to kill

him by a lethal injection. My husband never expressed any desire

to die. He has maintained that he has been entrapped by the STF.

My husband was shocked but he had no way of changing his lawyer

while being locked up in the high security jail.

It was only after the High Court judgement was pronounced he got

to know about the way the lawyer had represented him. Afzal

refused to accept the same lawyer for his appeal in the Supreme

Court. I had no way of getting Afzal a lawyer. I do not know anyone

in Delhi. Finally Afzal wrote to the Defence Committee set up for

Mr. Geelani. I am annexing his letter. And the Defence Committee

helped Afzal get a senior lawyer, Sushil Kumar, However, the

Supreme Court cannot go into the evidence and so I do not know

what will happen.

I appeal to you to ensure that my husband is not condemned to

death and he is ensured a fair trial. Surely your conscience will not

allow you to be a party to the death of a fellow human being who28

has not been represented in the court and who has not had a

chance to tell his story? The police have made him falsely confess

before the media even before the trial started. They humiliated

him, beat him, tortured him and even urinated in his mouth. I feel

deep shame to talk about these things in public but circumstances

have forced me. It has taken a lot of courage for me to put all this

on paper but I do so for the sake of my child who is now six years

old.

Will you speak out at the injustice my husband has faced? Will

you speak out on my behalf? I am of course fighting for my

husband's life, for the life of my son's father. But I also speak as a

Kashmiri woman who is losing faith in Indian democracy and its

ability to be fair to Kashmiri Muslims.

Tabassum

Srinagar: September 200429

Resolution Passed jointly by Kashmiri Leaders

Resolution

At a meeting of the Society for the Protection of Detainees' and

Prisoners' Rights on Saturday, September 24, 2005 at Taj Hotel

Budshah Chok Srinagar, we were deeply shocked to learn that

Mohammad Afzal has been sentenced to death by the supreme

court of India without having an opportunity to defend himself. This

is one more example of  how the Indian courts are used for making

political statements at the cost of  lives of Kashmiri people. On the

one hand the Indian political leaders talk about peace process in

Kashmir and taking confidence building measures on the other

hand Kashmiris like Afzal are sentenced to death without even a

fair trial?

The judgement of the Supreme court states that the attck on the

Indian Parliament resulted in heavy casualties and has " shaken

the entire nation and the coolective conscience of the socity will

only e satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender."

We the people of Kashmir ask why the collective conscience of

Indians is not shaken by the fact that a Kashmiri has been

sentenced to death without a fair trial, without a chance to represent

himself? Throughout the trial at the sessions court Mohammad

Afzal asked the judge to appoint a lawyer. He even named various

lawyers but they all refused to represent him. Is it his fault that the

Indian lawyers think that it is more patriotic to allow a Kashmiri to

die rather than ensure he gets a fair trial?

At the High court an Indian human rights lawyer who volunteered

to represent Afzal actually asked the court that Afzal wanted to be

killed by a lethal injection instead of by hanging. Afzal did not know

that his lawyer had filed such a petition on his behalf till after the

case was over and he had been given three death sentences.

At the Supreme Court the senior lawyer and former Law Minister,

Shantibhushanji, who was representing another co-accused  told3031

the court that Afzal was guilty and deserved to die. He made such

statements throughout, both inside  the court and in the print media.

In Sarabjeet Sigh's case the Indian Prime Minister and Indian media

has been campaigning with the Pakistan authorities to spare his

life. And for the sake of the Indo-Pak friendship  process Sarabjeet

Singh's life will be spared but is it not a contradiction that the same

leaders think that Azal's life needs to be

Sacrificed at the altar of false notion of national security.

We resolve to launch a Kashmir-wide signature campaign in

support of our demand that the death sentence on Afzal be

commuted.

Syed Ali Geelani

Shabir Ahmad Shah

Mohammad Yaseen Malik

Mian Abdul Qayyoom

Nisar Ali3233

Afzal's Letter to SPDPR

To

The Society For protection oF

Detenues and Prisoners Rights (SPDPR)

Respected Sir, I would like to inform your SPDPR regarding the

13,Dec.2001, parliament attack case, Some Facts as below;

1: after Few days of my arrest at Srinagar(Kashmir)bus Stand, I

was Forced under duress and threat by special-cell police (Delhi).

To present myself before media.This unwanted or unwilling media

presentation which was done at special police Station Delhi was

confirmed by one the interviewersor reporter of Aaj-Tak + v

Channel. When he was summoned by session court.

2:- The Session court systemically Silenced my voice by.

a) Not providing me the Advocate of my own Choice

b) Not giving the recorded Statements of Trial proceedings

c) The different Statements and objections raised by me were

never recorded by the Court, regarding the various

witnesses and their False Statements against me.

3:- I was repreented by one Human rights activist  Colin

Gonzalves.(Advocate) in High court. I was shocked when I came

to know that from news paper Indian Express. That my Advocate

has requested the court that AFZAL wants that he should be killed

by Lethal Injection rather by hanging. When I contacted From High

Security ward of Tihar Jail to my Lawyer He neither came to meet

me nor informed me regarding this False request which I never

did.

4:- In S.Court the lawyer of my co-accused brought the different

allegations concerned me to such an thresh-hold where natural

Justice Fail to make out anything For me.

      Thus under these circumstances it is natural that I can get any

Justice. I hope that SDPDR will consider the above Facts and

Take up the cause. Thank You

Your' Sincerely

Mohammad AFZAL Guru.

W.No. 9-Jail No 5,

Tihar, N.Delhi-11006434

How can you help?

If you want to support SPDPR's campaign and show

solidarity with Afzal you may :

A. Contribute generously to SPDPR by sending cheques

or drafts to our office address:

163, Vasant Enclave, New Delhi-110057

B. Organise meetings and take the information regarding

the facts about Afzal's case to the people.

C. If you want any further information or our literature

then you may contact us at:

rona358@gmail.com  ;  Tel. : 011-2615268035

Mission Statement

The Society for the Protection of Detainees' And Prisoners' Rights

(SPDPR) has been formed by a group of men and women who

came together while campaigning for the acquittal of Syed Abdur

Rahman Geelani, the Delhi University teacher framed in the

parliament attack case. In the course of our campaign we became

aware of the complex political issues relating to the question of

political prisoners in Indian jails.

The question of political prisoners has a direct bearing on the future

of Indian democracy. The most disturbing fact is that many

democratic sections of our society failed to respond to the demands

of our campaign because they were afraid to openly declare Mr.

Geelani as a political prisoner for fear of being called antinational.This overwhelming fear forced many to remain silent even

when Mr. Geelani was sentenced to death without a shred of

evidence.

We see this as a reflection of the success of the so-called war

against terror in which national security doctrine undermines basic

democratic norms and values. We want to expose the fact that

hundreds of people have been incarcerated only because they

belong to a religious community, a particular geographical area or

are sympathetic to a particular movement. A growing number of

these prisoners are Muslims, victims of Islamophobia, the main

ideology of the war against terror.

The fight for the rights of political prisoners is integral to the fight

for the preservation of democratic norms. We firmly believe that

all of us who are committed to making Indian democracy vibrant

and meaningful must fight to free all political prisoners and

detainees in the jails all over the country.36

The incident which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the

entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only

be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender.

—Supreme Court Judgement  p.204

For there to be equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish

a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would

inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward,

had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not

encountered in private life

—Albert Camus

The deliberate  institutionalized taking of human life by the state is

the greatest conceivable degradation to the dignity of the human

personaaality.

—Arthur J. Goldberg, former Supreme Court Justice,

The Boston Globe, 8/16/1976, p.17