The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday brought forth its national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at a protest organised by its arm Minority Morcha against the delay by the Delhi Government in giving its opinion on the mercy petition moved by Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, to show that this case was one of terrorism alone and had nothing to do with any community in particular.
Addressing the protest, Mr. Naqvi said terrorists have no religion, they are neither Hindu nor Muslim. “A terrorist is an enemy of humanity, community and the country.''
To support his argument and to show that the minorities were also not in favour of the way the case of Afzal Guru has been handled, the senior BJP leader then asked the demonstrators to raise their hands and tell the Delhi Government that no Muslim or other protester was happy with the delay in hangingof the Parliament attack case convict.
The protest was also attended by a large number of senior Delhi BJP leaders. The protesters began their march from Jantar Mantar and proceeded to Parliament. The party leaders addressed the protesters after they were stopped by the police outside Parliament Street police station.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly V.K. Malhotra also criticised the Delhi Government for delaying the hanging of Afzal Guru due to vote bank politics. He said the demonstration had been organised to show how angry the people were with the Government's stand.
The new Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said it was surprising that while Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had a couple of days ago pleaded ignorance about the Afzal Guru case files, within hours the file had been signed and sent to the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. He demanded that the Government stop playing vote bank politics. “The BJP will not remain idle till the families of the martyrs get justice,'' he said.
Minority Morcha president Atif Rasheed asserted that the Muslims were unhappy with the delay in hanging of Afzal Guru.
Following the address, some of the BJP leaders and workers tried to break the police barricades. At this the police resorted to use of a water cannon to disperse them. While some of the workers were reportedly injured and taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, many others courted arrest.
