NEW DELHI: Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has voiced his opposition to the death sentence given to Mohammad Afzal Guru for his involvement in the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. Talking to a Srinagar-based news agency, Omar said he was considering intervening in the issue to stop the hanging, as it could create new complications in Kashmir, similar to the ones created by the execution of Kashmiri leader Muhammad Maqbool Bhat in 1984 in Delhi's Tihar Jail.Omar said that he was consulting legal experts on his position in the Afzal Guru case and trying to determine whether his opinion would be sought, as Afzal is a Kashmiri national.
He has also asked the Kashmir advocate general to give his opinion on the technical and legal aspects of Guru's case. Technically Omar's opinion is not required by the Indian president before deciding the clemency petition of Guru, as both the crime and trial took place in New Delhi.
Omar said he would not put his signature on the death warrant if he was required to do so. “I am against the death sentence and I want to make it clear that if I am required to sign Guru's death warrant, I will not do it,' he said, adding that problems did not get resolved by hanging people. “The hanging of Maqbool Bhat did not solve any issue but created more complications,' he said.