Raja Ram Mohon Roy and Arnos Vale Cemetery of Bristol, England

Raja Ram Mohon Roy and Arnos Vale Cemetery of Bristol, England

Sachi G. Dastidar

For a long time we wanted to visit the Samadhi of Ram Mohon Roy (also Raja Ram Mohan Roy or Rajah Rammohun Roy; 1772-1833) and pay homage to the great man. While living in Dublin, Ireland my wife Shefali and I decided to fly across the Irish Sea and visit the grave in Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol. Ram Mohon is considered by many as the Father of Indian Renaissance, the Father of Bengal Renaissance, the Father of the Idea of Modern India, Founder of the Brahmo Samaj reformed religion in Hinduism which espoused caste less, gender equal, monotheistic, services in vernacular languages that people can understand easily and formless religion many of which are now part and parcel of modern Hindu practices. He also fought against many taboos, social ills and orthodoxy of the time. Ram Mohon was influenced by the liberal thinking of the Unitarian Church.

Arnos Vale is quite close to the train station, actually within walking distance of less than a kilometer on your left as you exit the train station. Two bus routes connect the cemetery, or one can take a taxi which takes no more than three minutes at a huge cost. Ram Mohon’s cemetery is barely 100 yards from the entrance as you turn right towards the Speilman Centre.

Among all the cemetery architecture with crosses and headstones Ram Mohon’s stands out distinctively as a Hindu shrine. Arnos Vale Cemetery Guidebook writes, “An extremely influential religious and political thinker, he coined the word ‘Hinduism’ as a term for diversity of Indian religions and wrote extensively on religious and social matters. He stressed the importance of education for Indians, campaigned for women’s rights and worked to end the traditional practice of sati, the burning of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands…..

“This rare and beautiful tomb is now a listed monument and has long been a place of pilgrimage for Bengalis and Indians. It was repaired and conserved in 2008 using money donated to the Arnos Vale Trust by businessman Aditya Poddar.” (p 35)

The Cemetery has a nice park-like setting with flowering trees and paths for walking and biking. There are chapels and lodges among the beautiful monuments in the Cemetery. Now in the Speilman Centre there are exhibition, information as well as a nice restaurant. At the East Lodge there is a souvenir center selling cards and publications dedicated to Arnos Vale and more.

As it is expensive to maintain such a large property in the middle of the city, the owner of the property proposed to sell it to developers. To keep the property as a national heritage area citizens have formed Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust and Friends of Arnos Vale to raise funds and protect the property. They have to raise one million British pounds to achieve their goal. CEO of the organization is Juliette Randall. Anyone wishing to donate money, buy their publication or receive their newsletter may contact YourArnosVale@arnosvale.org.uk, or call (44) 0117-971-9117 or check the web at www.arnosvale.org.uk. Mrs. Contractor, widow of an Indian Parsee, is a Member of the Board of Arnos Vale (2013.)

Raja Ram Mohon Roy Tomb

 

Inscription on the tomb for Rajah Rammohun Roy Bahadoor

 

 

Paying Homage

 

Back Inscription

 

 

Paying Homage

 

A Section of the Cemetery

 

Tributes left by Admirers

 

 

Paying Tribute

 

View from the Path

 

Bikers pause for a Look

 

 

A Section of the Cemetery

 

Part of the Cemetery

 

The Store run by Volunteers

 

 

 



Wagha, Punjab – Atari, Punjab, India-Pakistan Border Crossing

Wagha, Punjab – Atari, Punjab, India-Pakistan Border Crossing

Sachi G. Dastidar

The fallout from the 1947 British-created Muslim League-demanded India-Pakistan border can be witnessed firsthand in the Wagha, Punjab and Atari, Punjab border crossing of Pakistan and India. This border crossing was created when British India’s Punjab Province was partitioned to (west) Punjab Province of Pakistan and that of (east) Punjab State of India. In that process almost the entire Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian minority was wiped out of Pakistan (after the 1947 partition.) In case of India although her Muslim population went down a bit after 1947 partition as most of her Muslim-majority areas became part of Pakistan but it has risen faster than the majority Hindu-Sikh-Jain-Buddhist-Christian population in spite of huge influx of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Pakistani Kashmir and Afghanistan.

The saga of the divide can be seen when one crosses the border line – if one can really cross it. This has been the sole border crossing for over six decades between the second-most and the sixth-most populous nation on earth. As Dastidars tried to cross the borders from Pakistan to India, their first attempt failed as they reached the crossing at 3:15 PM. The officials told them the border is open only for five hours till 3 PM, unless you are a very important person for whom it is open till 5 PM; which Dastidars were not. All attempts of their Pakistani hosts to prove to the border officials that their guests were important failed. Thus they had to make a second trip to cross the border.

But, as you see in the pictures below, the entire crossing was given to them as they were the only travelers trying to get to the other side.

The travelers were invited to stay till 5 PM to witness the spectacle of border closing ceremony – many locals call it tamasha – whereby the border guards do a dance-march to officially close the border gates and finally shaking hand with the other side! Dastidars refused to attend that ceremony because the border is supposed to be for people and good to pass through, not for dance-march.

One non-Hindu, non-Hindi speaking minority Indian told the visitors that a few years back in a gesture of friendship Indian and Indian-Punjabi officials gave over 500 visas to Pakistanis for watching a cricket game played across the border in Indian Punjab. According to that official at the end of the prescribed period several “guests” did not return back to Pakistan, and a few of them engaged on terror activities in India.

But the twin jewels of Punjab, cities of Lahore and Amritsar, barely 50 miles apart are worlds away. In one speaking the native Punjabi is considered almost “uncultured” for Urdu, a language of North India, whereas in the other Punjabi language has been saved through teaching in classrooms and writing in Gurmukhi script. In one city killing of any animal for food is almost non-existent whereas in the other even the breakfast starts with animal flesh. In one city women jostle with men in public transport, whereas in the other city public transport is almost non-existent for women. One of the cities has become linguistically homogeneous speaking only Urdu, while in the other one frequently hears along with Punjabi and Hindi, Bhojpuri, Oriya, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu and many more languages. In Lahore, Pakistan there are certainly more women drivers than a so-called liberal city of Kolkata (Calcutta) in India. Lahore was a Hindu-majority city before 1947 partition with many famed Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras (temple.) The visitors asked their taxi to take them to a Hindu temple. After hours of search he came back with sad face, “Sahab, Sir, I was told the last Hindu mandir (temple) called Jain Mandir was brought down two years back.” Then he took the visitors to a “Hindu temple” which was an abandoned Sikh gurdwara maintained by a Muslim guard paid for by the British Sikhs. The driver took them, along with their host Didiji and Shakeela to Harappa – where they were the lone visitors. The small unkempt sign to Harappa ruins in Urdu was barely visible from the highway as the driver missed the turn. Seeing the visitors ordering each copy of their English booklets, the salesman commented, “Sir, you must like to read.” Dastidars also visited Nankana Sahib, the Birth Place of Guru Nanak, and the Founder of Sikhism. The guard first said “Only Hindus and Sikhs are allowed in,” but relaxed the rule for their local Muslim companions as they were coming with Hindus. Absence of religious diversity in Pakistan has affected its intellectual heritage too. The beautiful British-era National Museum of Lahore contain some of the precious gems of Indian civilization, e.g. statue of starving Buddha, lion pillars of Asoka, old manuscripts, marble footprints of Jain, ancient statutes of Hindu deities and more. But an old Bengali manuscript is identified as Sanskrit, while a Sanskrit manuscript is depicted as Tibetan, and statue of Goddess Lakshmi (of wealth) is identified as goddess of music and dance (Saraswati.) On the other hand some of the old places are saved in exemplary form including the British-established Government College University, the Mall, Foreman Christian College, the canals, Lahore University, Badshahi Mosque, Lahore Fort and more.

Yet there is hope! On that visit, as Dastidars were traveling from Peshawar to Lahore in a modern air-conditioned Daewoo coach, they were befriended by two young ladies – professor Shakeela and her younger sister Shabnam – who “kidnapped” them to take them to their home in Sabzazar neighborhood of Lahore by canceling Dastidar’s hotel reservation. (Two ladies had cell phone, but Dastidars did not.) Their mother, Didi or sister for Dastidars, born in East Punjab, India would repeatedly mention that they were blessed to have the first ever Hindu mehman – honored guests – in their home. Shakeela’s poor brother Rizwan was delighted to drive their “Hindu uncle and aunt” to the border twice in two days!

  

The Empty Wagha-Atari Broder Crossing

 

 

Waiting To Cross the Divide; Send off by (Muslim) Pakistanis

 

 

The Line that Divides the Partitioned Nations

 

The Broder from Indian Side

 

 

(Hindu-Sikh) Welocme in India

 

Didi (left) saying Good Bye to her Hindu Guests

 

 

Sabzazar Neighborhood Park

 

Goverment College University, Lahore

 

 

The Sikh Gurdwara; the Muslim guard Explaining

 

Lahore National Museum

 

 

The Lion of Asoka; Symbol of Government of India in Lahore National Museum

 

 

The Fasting Buddha

 

 Marble Footprints of Lord Jain

 

 

Statue of Ma Durga, Goddess of Strength

 

Old Stone Tablet at Lahore National Museum

 

 

 

 

 

Protect Hinuds, Amnesty International urges Bangladesh

Daily Star, Dhaka

March 7, 2013

Protect Hindus, AI urges Bangladesh

Star Online Report

(Destroyed Deity)

This March 5 photo shows vandalised idols in a Hindu temple in Singra upazila of Natore.

In the wake of a wave of violent attacks against the country’s minority Hindu community, Amnesty International has made an urgent call to the government to provide them with better protection.

Over the past week, individuals taking part in strikes called for by Islamic parties have vandalised more than 40 Hindu temples across Bangladesh. Scores of shops and houses belonging to the Hindu community have also been burned down, leaving hundreds of people homeless, said a press release of the international rights watchdog.

“The Hindu community in Bangladesh is at extreme risk, in particular at such a tense time in the country. It is shocking that they appear to be targeted simply for their religion. The authorities must ensure that they receive the protection they need,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh Researcher.

“All political parties in Bangladesh should condemn strongly any violence against the Hindu community, and to instruct all their members and supporters not to take part in such attacks.”

Survivors told Amnesty International that the attackers were taking part in rallies organised by the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

Jamaat has publicly denied any involvement in violence against the Hindu community.

The latest attack took place on Wednesday in Daudkandi in southeastern district of Comilla, where a Hindu temple was vandalised and burnt down.

One survivor told Amnesty International that on February 28, his family’s village of Rajganj Bazar in the southeastern Noakhali district was set on fire by people taking part in a Jamaat-organised strike.

“They moved into our properties and set fire to 30 of our houses. Seventy-six families were living in these houses. They also set fire to our temples – all are now vanished,” the survivor said, who asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety.

He said the authorities have provided temporary accommodation to the affected families, who had lost almost all their belongings to theft or destruction in the violence.

Another survivor said that on March 2, a group of about 100 young men holding banners in support of Jamaat looted and damaged four shops in Satkania near Chittagong and vandalised a Hindu temple in the village.

Bangladesh’s Hindu minority makes up only eight percent of the population, and has historically been at risk of violence from the Muslim population—including during the independence war in 1971, and after elections in 2001.

“Given the obvious risks the Hindu minority faces in Bangladesh, these attacks were sadly predictable. We urge the authorities to take note of the violence and act to prevent further attacks,” said Faiz.

Tensions have been running high in Bangladesh in recent weeks as JI and its student wing have called strikes and mass protests against the ICT, which has found some of its senior members guilty for crimes committed during the 1971 war.

Protesters have also been involved in violent clashes with police, who have used tear gas, rubber bullets or live ammunition against them. At least 60 people have been killed, mostly by police fire, but among the dead are also several policemen.

“While there are credible reports that police firing may have followed violent attacks against them by protesters, police use of excessive force cannot be discounted”, Faiz said.

Hindu Temple Desecrated and Destroyed in Hindu-Majority India

Hindu Temple Burnt, Kali Icon Desecrated and Vandalized in Basirhat,   West Bengal, India

Hindu Samhati

 

Sent:

Thursday, December 31, 2009 1:29 AM

 Hindu Temple Burnt, Kali Icon Desecrated and Vandalized in Basirhat, West Bengal

33 year old Kali Temple Attacked and Burnt; Kali murthi stripped and vagina blackened;

At the late hours of 16th December, 2009 some unknown miscreants (suspected to be Islamic activists) entered the 33 year old Kali temple of Kankra village of Kachua Panchayet, under Basirhat Police Station in North 24 Parganas district, stripped the murthi, or icon of Mother Kali naked and burnt the temple. Before leaving the temple, the miscreants even tied the throat of the stone made murthi of the Goddess with a thick rope. The vagina of the idol was blackened. Keeping in view to the nature of the crime and mixed population of the area, one can easily understand that no Hindu can do such a heinous and sacrireligious deed. The finger of suspicion is definitely pointed to the Muslim community.

 The village of Kachua is a popular pilgrimage place because of the famous temple of renowned saint Sri Loknath Brahamachari. Hundreds of thousands of devotees visit this this Temple throughout the year. In this area where the Hindus have become a minority, perhaps the next target is this Loknath Temple.

Hindus became extremely aggrieved for this desecration of their temple and murthi. All Hindus of the village cutting across party lines jointly put a roadblock and demonstrated at Basirhat Police Station. At the time of demonstration, local Communit Party of India (CPI) MLA Narayan Mukherjee tried to divert the issue saying that the desecration of the murthi(icon) and temple must have been a deed of a mentally misbalanced person. But the Hindus rejected the idea. Police assured the Hindus that they will book the culprit. But till now no culprit has been arrested.

 A few days before, the ornaments of the Kali murthi(icon) and other valuables of the temple were robbed similarly. People lodged complaints to the police station. That case too unresolved.

Basirhat sub-division in West Bengal is border area with Bangladesh. It has become open ground for Jehadi(Islamist) terrorists. The whole area of Basirhat Police Station. became Muslim majority due to unabated illegal Muslim Infiltration from Bangladesh. The illegal activities and atrocities upon Hindus have increased simultaneously. The scale of torture upon Hindus has sharply increased in recent times. The desecration of the sacred Kali temple is the latest example. The aggrieved Hindus demonstrated in front of the local police station and blocked the roads. Communal tension rose in the area and RAF(special police force) was deployed to control the situation.

Desecrated Murti (Statue) of Mother Goddess Kali

 

Torched and Destroyed Murti (Statue) of Mother Goddess Kali

Original Kali Murthi (Icon)

 Posted by Hindu Samhati's International Communications Team.

Saraswati Puja in Bangladesh, 2013

Daily Star, Dhaka

Friday, February 15, 2013

Saraswati Puja being celebrated

File Photo Star Online Report

Hindu religious people are celebrating Saraswati Puja Friday in the city and elsewhere in the country with festivity.

Hundreds of Hindu devotees and visitors from all walks of life are celebrating Saraswati Puja at Dhaka University through traditional gaiety as elsewhere across the country on Friday, with prayers for wisdom and arts.

As in the previous years, the Jagannath Hall playground wore a festive look with colorfully decorated Puja mandaps (pavilions) that different departments of DU erected to offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati.

The Bani Archana, one of the vital parts of the Puja, also performs at Begum Rokeya and Shamsun Nahar halls at the university.

Saraswati Puja also celebrating at Dhakeswari temple, Siddheswari temple, Ram-Krishna Mission, Supreme Court premises and in many educational institutions, including Buet, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka Medical College, Stamford University, Dhaka College, and Eden Girls' College

Saraswati Puja in Dhaka Prothom Alo Feb 15 2013; in Bengali,  http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2013-02-15/news/329465

Saraswati Puja in Bangladesh Bhorer Kagoj Feb 15 2013; in Bengaii, http://www.bhorerkagoj.net/new/blog/2013/02/15/103567.php

Puja was held in the midst of anti Islamic-fundamentalist Shahbag movement. These reports tell us that schools and colleges celebrated Saraswati Puja, including several pujas within Dhaka University campus (see Bhorer Kagoj) but that is not allowed in Hindu-majority Indian West Bengal state (for the past 2 decades.)

See Amardeshonline.com and its daily print edition in Bangladesh:

35 Hindu Deities “ Sarwasati Devi’ desecrated at Agoiljhara Upazila of Barisal District in Bangladesh :

February 11, 2013

Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) received information that some
perpetrators with religiously motivated attacked on Sarwasati Devi on 10th of February, 2013 in the night, destroyed the Hindu deities and desecrated. As a result of such
abrupt attack some goods procured for puja purpose has also been destroyed. This incident took place at Agoiljhara Upazila of Barisal District in Bangladesh.

Due to such unfortunate acts on the part of perpetrators the Minority
Hindu communities are in great anxiety.

In this connection Mr. Joydeb Chandra Paul – victim lodged a Case No- 2 dated 09/02/13 against some unknown perpetrators at Agoiljhara police station. But police could
arrest only one perpetrator till writing of this report.

The news has been published in the national daily “Amardesh” dated 11th
February, 13.

sources link, in Bengali: http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2013/02/11/187398

 

Indian Terrorism and Justice: Mohammad Afzal Guru

The Telegraph, Calcutta, India

Saturday , February 9 , 2013

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru hanged and buried inside Tihar jail New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI): Afzal Guru, Jaish-e-Mohammad militant convicted in the audacious attack on Parliament in 2001, was on Saturday hanged in Tihar Jail in an operation shrouded in secrecy, five days after his mercy plea was rejected by the President. A resident of Sopore in north Kashmir, 43-year-old Guru, sentenced to death in 2002 by a special court and the verdict upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005, was executed at 8 am in Tihar Jail here and his body was buried in the prison premises. Guru, a former fruit merchant, was found guilty of conspiring and sheltering the militants who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001, in which nine persons were killed. Fearing a backlash over the execution, an indefinite curfew was clamped in the Valley and security beefed up. Jammu and Kashmir Minister Omar Abdullah, DGP Ashok Prasad and other senior officers flew from Jammu to Srinagar early on Saturday morning to keep a close watch on the law and order situation. On December 13, 2001, five heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, killing five Delhi Police personnel, a woman CRPF official, two Parliament watch and ward staff and a gardener. A journalist, who was injured, died later. All five terrorists were shot dead by security forces. Guru was arrested within hours after the attack from a bus in the national capital. ”Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 am,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters shortly after the execution. Guru was taken to the gallows at around 7.30 am and appeared calm, a top Tihar Jail official said. The family of Guru residing in Sopore in north Kashmir was informed about the decision of the Government that his mercy petition has been rejected. This was done through speedpost, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said. Guru's mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 3. ”I examined the file carefully and recommended to the President on January 21 for rejection of Afzal Guru's petition,” the Home Minister said. Shinde said Guru's case was sent to the then President by the Home Ministry in 2011. “After that there was a new President and a new Home Minister. President Mukherjee sent Guru's file to the Home Ministry. ”We sent it to the President on January 21, 2013. On February 3, the President sent Guru's file rejecting the mercy plea to the Home Ministry. ”I put my signature on February four and sent it for further execution to the department. The due procedure was followed and it was then decided that the hanging will take place on February 9 rpt 9 (today) at 8 am.” Reminiscent of the hanging of Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani national, on November 21 last year, the execution of Guru, who has been on the death roaw for over 10 years, was kept under wraps in a top secret operation. Moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has declared a four-day mourning. A complete shutdown will be observed during this period, Shahidul Islam, spokesman of the amalgam, said. Guru is the second Kashmiri militant to be hanged after JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat who was executed on February 11, 1984 for the murder of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in United Kingdom. The attack on Parliament had brought India and Pakistan on the brink of war. Guru was sentenced to death along with Delhi University professor S A R Gilani and Shaukat Hussain. Hussain's wife Afsan was let off. Gilani was, however, let off by the High Court in 2003 while the sentence of Guru and Hussain was upheld. The Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty of Guru in 2005 while in the case of Hussain, it was commuted to 10 years.

 

Telegraph, Calcutta

Hurriyat calls for four-day mourning Srinagar, Feb 9 (PTI): Moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday announced four-day mourning on the death of Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was hanged this morning following his conviction in the Parliament attack case. ”We call on people to observe four-day mourning on the hanging of Guru. A complete shutdown will be observed over the mourning period,” Shahidul Islam, spokesman of the amalgam, told PTI. Hurriyat also demands immediate return of the mortal remains of Guru so that he can be given a burial according to his family's wishes and as per Islamic rituals, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led hardline Hurriyat Conference Ayaz Akbad was taken into preventive custody by police in the early morning on Saturday. ”Akbar was arrested by police at 5.00 am and taken to an unknown location,” his son said. All the senior separatist leaders including Geelani, Mirwaiz and JKLF leader Mohammad Yasin Malik are presently out of the Valley and could not be reached for a comment. Jamaat-e-Islami condemned Afzal's hanging saying “the hanging of Guru in Tihar Jail mysteriously is an expression of extreme despotism and tyranny by the Government of India”. ”This action has deeply hurt the sentiments of more than one crore Kashmiri people. In order to achieve its nefarious political designs, the party holding the reigns of power in Delhi has always been committing such tactical tyrannical actions since 1947 whenever this party seemed to lose its power,” a spokesman of the Jamaat, Zahid Ali said. He alleged that the the hanging of Guru also carries a sinister design to create an atmosphere of fear among the Kashmiri people so as to deter them from demanding their ”usurped right of self determination”.

 

Telegraph,  Calcutta, India

February 8, 2013

Demonise’ charge on Mufti OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDNET Srinagar, Feb. 7: Some pro-aazaadi groups in the Valley have accused Grand Mufti Bashiruddin of “demonising” Kashmir with his fatwas, particularly the one that forced all-girl band Praagaash to disband, with one planning to move court. The calls for action against the Mufti came as the Omar Abdullah government cracked down on the alleged online abusers of the band’s three girls. Three persons have been held and dozens of Facebook users are under the scanner. While the alleged threats precipitated the band’s problems, the Praagaash girls had cited “respect for Mufti” and “Kashmiri sensitivities” while quitting. Many pro-aazaadi groups disapproved of the band but distanced themselves from the fatwa. “He (the Mufti) is running a parallel judicial system and the government allows him… we are making the government a party in the case,” said Parvez Imroz of the Coalition of Civil Societies, which will challenge in the high court Bashiruddin’s authority. Imroz dubbed the Mufti a “self-styled Supreme Court of Islamic Shariah demonising” all Kashmiris.

Telegraph, Calcutta

Monday , February 11 , 2013

Saeed twists SC order to fan fire - Lashkar founder promises to satisfy ‘collective conscience’ of Kashmiris

NISHIT DHOLABHAI

Supporters of the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa participate in an anti-India demonstration to condemn the hanging of Afzal Guru in Rawalpindi on Sunday. (Reuters)   New Delhi, Feb. 10: Lashkar-e-Toiba founder and suspected 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed has found an opportunity to stoke trouble in Kashmir by selectively quoting from the Supreme Court judgment upholding Afzal Guru’s death sentence. Saeed fished out from the over 300-page judgment the phrase “the collective conscience of the society will be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender” and tweeted on it this evening. “Our promise remains unchanged, We WILL satisfy the ‘Collective Conscience’ of Kashmiri people, with the help of Almighty ALLAH #AfzalGuru,” Saeed posted. The tweet appeared to suggest that if Afzal was hanged to satisfy the “collective conscience” of Indian society, the Lashkar founder was free to fan the flames for the “collective conscience” of Kashmiris. But the court’s elaboration was more detailed. “The gravity of the crime conceived by the conspirators with the potential of causing enormous casualties and dislocating the functioning of the Government as well as disrupting normal life of the people of India is something which cannot be described in words. The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender,” a bench of Justices Venkatarama Reddy and P.P. Naolekar had said in their order on August 4, 2005. The “collective conscience” phrase is often cited by rights activists and some former jurists who disagree with the verdict. Saeed’s tweet came as Kashmir simmered over yesterday’s hanging of Afzal, who hailed from Sopore. The Lashkar had yesterday warned of retaliation. In its 2005 judgment, the Supreme Court had also noted that there is no doubt the Parliament attack was without parallel “in the history of the Indian republic” while ruling that the most appropriate punishment for Afzal was the death sentence. “The appellant… is a menace to the society and his life should become extinct. Accordingly, we uphold the death sentence,” the bench said. While intelligence agencies reckon the hanging was necessary despite concerns it could be seen in the Valley as a provocation, others questioned the timing. “It is a purposeless decision. You have put Kashmir in trouble where there was none and weakened Omar Abdullah,” said A.S. Dulat, ex-chief of RAW, the country’s external intelligence wing. Much of the Valley has been under curfew since yesterday, with the chief minister camping in Srinagar despite the government having shifted to winter capital Jammu. For the Pakistan-based Saeed, though, Afzal’s hanging could not have come at a better time. Tomorrow is the death anniversary of Maqbool Bhat, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder who was hanged and buried at Tihar jail on February 11, 1984. Saeed was quick to club the two executions on the eve of Bhat’s death anniversary. “Maqbool Bhatt’s martyrdom infused new life in the struggle of #Kashmir, #afzalGuru’s sacrifice will pave the way for Freedom, Insha’Allah,” Saeed said in his tweet. He had begun commenting on “shaheed (martyred) Afzal Guru” within hours of the hanging yesterday morning. He termed the execution “judicial terrorism” by India and called for “peaceful protests” across Pakistan.