Patil links Afzal to Sarabjit; BJP says 'nonsense'

New Delhi, May 21: Stoking the Afzal Guru row and linking it with that of Sarabjit Singh’s release, the Home Minister Shivraj Patil said, ‘If you are asking for Afzal’s hanging how can you ask pardon for Sarabjit.’ He said that the attack on Parliament was a personal blow to him but one particular community can’t be blamed for everything while saying that ‘we will do whatever is appropriate according to law.’

Afzal Guru had been ordered to be hanged till death by the Supreme Court.

Reacting to it, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that his statement was complete nonsense and said that while Sarabjit Singh's case was one of mistaken identity, Afzal Guru had been punished by the highest court in the country.

BJP flak

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil's comments virtually equating Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru with Sarabjit Singh on Wednesday drew flak from the BJP, which accused the Congress of playing votebank politics.

The main Opposition party slammed as ‘irresponsible’ the Home Minister's remarks that how can the demand be made for the hanging of Afzal when India has been pressing for clemency for Sarabjit.

"The comments of the Home Minister are deplorable and condemnable. The Government, which has been dithering from executing Afzal, is playing votebank politics by giving such absurd reasons," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

He said the cases of Afzal and Sarabjit, who is on a death row in Pakistan, are totally different.

"While Sarabjit's was a case of mistaken identity, Afzal's role and involvement in the Parliament attack is proven and he has been convicted by the court," Javadekar added.

Another senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad described Patil's remarks as ‘one of the most irresponsible comments by a minister’ and said, "It is bound to have serious implications on the ongoing Indo-Pak talks".

"The statement of the Home Minister relating Sarabjit's case to the Parliament attack convict would demoralise the Indian security forces," he said and demanded that Afzal's capital punishment be executed.

He said while several courts, including the apex court, awarded capital punishment for Afzal, in Sarabjit's case many Pakistani leaders have publicly raised questions on his identity, he said.