Pakistan Offering Sarabjeet For Afzal Guru?

Just as family members of Mohammad Afzal Guru, set to be hanged on October 20 for his role in the 2001 attack on Parliament are seeking pardon for him from President APJ Abdul Kalam, there have been unconfirmed reports that Pakistan is lobbying for Afzal Guru and might even hang Indian citizen Sarabjit Singh in retaliation if his death sentence is not revoked.

According to some intelligence sources, there is back channel pressure on India to let off the terrorist involved in the 2001 Parliament attack and possible swap them for Sarabjit Singh. Singh, who hails from Amritsar, is currently lodged in the high security Kot Lakhpath jail near Lahore.

 Meanwhile Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who had also requested for clemency for Afzal Guru on humanitarian grounds has come under severe criticism for the opposition parties.

Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi has hit out at the Centre, saying Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister demand for clemency for the Parliament attack guilty reveals the party’s “sympathetic” attitude towards terrorists.

According to legal sources, Afzal Guru is not filing a mercy petition because if it’s filed, he would have to admit his guilt and explain the circumstances and events which led to Parliament attack on December 13, 2001. Guru maintains that he is innocent.