Hussain Zalpori
Baramulla, Sep 10: GM Shaheen, the Jammu and Kashmir State President of Janata Dal United JD(U) and ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made controversial remarks during a party meeting today in Tarzua, Sopore area in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Shaheen asserted that Afzal Guru, convicted and hanged for the 2001 Parliament attack, was innocent and used as a scapegoat.
“If Afzal Guru had money, he would not have been hanged,” said Shaheen, adding that a bribe of one or two lakh rupees to the then SP could have saved Guru’s life. Shaheen further claimed that Guru was betrayed by his own people and dramatically sent to Delhi for execution.
He also accused the National Conference and Congress of being responsible for mishandling the Asiya and Nelofar rape case and questioned their commitment to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. In a scathing attack on the National Conference, Shaheen alleged that Mohammad Yousuf, the district president of Ganderbal, was killed during Omar Abdullah’s tenure as Chief Minister and that the case was deliberately suppressed by four NC leaders.
