?Terrorism should not be connected with any religion, community or caste. The delay in hanging of Afzal indicates the lack of political will on the part of the government,? said Shri Ram Madhav, member of RSS national executive. He was speaking at a seminar organised jointly by Hindusthan Samachar, a multi-lingual news agency, and Shri Guruji Birth Centenary Celebration Committee in Bhopal recently. Besides Shri Ram Madhav, Justice R.D. Shukla, former executive chairman of Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission, Shri Kailash Sarang, former MP, Shri Brijmohan Srivastava, state spokesperson of MPCC and Shri Pramod Pradhan of CPM also participated in the discussion.
Shri Ram Madhav said the direction of the debate is being diverted deliberately. ?A terrorist is an anti-national and whatever way of worship he belongs to, he must be punished sternly. A total of 13 clemency petitions are pending before the President. Why so much hue and cry over just one petition?? he asked. Referring to the ?threats? by the National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shri Madhav said such statements on the part of the people sitting on constitutional posts could create a danger for the unity and integrity of the country.
Justice R.D. Shukla justified the death sentence to Afzal and said the decision of the President on clemency can be judicially reviewed. Shri Kailash Sarang appealed to the President to take any decision on the clemency petition keeping in view the sentiments of the country and the martyred security personnel.
Shri Brijmohan Srivastava said the country before taking any decision on such a sensitive issue should keep in mind the sentiments of Kashmiris. He said the country should think whether a criminal has human rights or not. Shri Pramod Pradhan said terrorism develops due to social and economical reasons and this problem cannot be resolved without addressing these issues.
