Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence Mushahid Hussain terms Afzal Guru's hanging as "judicial murder", condemns Indian claims over Pakistani territory as "expansionist"

Islamabad, Feb 10: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League, has strongly condemned the hanging by India of an innocent Kashmiri, Afzal Guru, as judicial murder and a gross travesty of justice. Talking to the media and giving his reaction on this issue, he said that even the Supreme Court of India in its judgment of August 5, 2005 on Afzal Guru had made it clear that it was awarding the death sentence "because the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded." He said this inhuman act of hanging of Afzal Guru without even allowing him to meet his family has been condemned by prominent public intellectuals in India like Arundhati Roy.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed also expressed full solidarity and full support to the hunger strike of the Kashmiri freedom fighter, Yasin Malik, and he said that there was a wave of resentment not just among the Kashmiri people but also among the of people of Pakistan because of this unjust and cruel act of hanging an innocent person.
Talking to the media, the Chairman of Denence Committee also condemned the statement of Indian Finance Minister, Chidambaram, on February 6 during a speech at an Indian think tank in New Delhi. During that speech Mr. Chidambaram had claimed a border for India with Afghanistan of 106 km which showed that India has claimed Pakistani territories since India does not enjoy a direct physical border with Afghanistan. In his speech to the think tank, the Indian Finance Minister said that India has a 106 km long border with Afghanistan which meant that India was making an irredentist claim and showed the expansionist designs of the Indian establishment.
Senator Mushahid Hussain urged the Government to raise its voice on both these issues, the hanging of Afzal Guru and the statement of the Indian minister laying claim to Pakistan territory saying that this was vitiating the atmosphere in Pakistan-India relations and such thinking should be resisted at all levels and we should take the case to International Human Rights Organisations as well as the International Community. Senator Mushahid Hussain also lauded the courage and determination of the Kashmir people in resisting the Indian occupation. #