NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Three Kashmiri men were sentenced to death by an Indian court on Wednesday after it found them involved in last year’s Dec 13 attack on the Indian parliament.

The Sikh wife of one of the accused was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment for what was described as suppression of facts about the conspiracy in which parliament members including the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues were believed to be the targets.

The verdict under India’s controversial anti-terrorism POTA laws brought a swift response from Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which said the court’s decision would further alienate Kashmiris from Indian rule.

“The decision is unfortunate,” Kashmir’s spiritual leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Dawn from Srinagar. “It was all decided on the basis of a spurious telephone call.”

“Kashmiris are already alienated from India. This will have a very harmful effect for India.,” Mirwaiz said. He said the APHC had condemned the sentence on the three Kashmiris.

“We were sadly silent when Maqbool Butt (founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front) was hanged. But this time we are going to launch a campaign,” Mirwaiz said.

The APHC statement condemned the attack on parliament, which it said, had nothing to do with the movement for Kashmir’s freedom from Indian rule.

Human rights activists observed that the verdict followed a rushed trial which appeared even more wrong because not a single police report has been registered, much less proceedings initiated against members of rightwing Hindu mobs who killed 2,000 Muslims and raped helpless women at will in Gujarat earlier this year.

“The ground reality in India today is that whereas the terrorists of the Sangh Parivar are given the freedom to indulge in whatever crimes they like, the government targets people who cannot defend themselves if they are charged under POTA,” human rights activist Gautam Navlakha said. “Those close to the ruling establishment found committing heinous crimes are lionized.”

Special Judge S. N. Dhingra passed the sentence on S. A. R. Geelani, Mohammed Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru and his wife Afshan. The three were convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act for waging a war against India by conspiring with the five terrorists who attacked Parliament on Dec 13, 2001. Afshan Guru, wife of Shaukat was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000, in default of which she would have to spend another six months in jail.

There was complete silence in the courtroom as the judge started reading out the operative portions of his 22-page order of sentence at around 11.30am (PST). All the four accused were present.

In his judgment the judge dwelt in detail on the terrorist attacks in Gujarat and Jammu and noted that the accused persons had drawn inspiration from Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Jaish-i-Mohammed leader Maulana Masood Azhar.

This was the first conviction and sentence under the newly enacted POTA. Shaukat broke down when the sentence was announced. Afzal was seen angrily saying. “We never expected justice from the court.”

Outside the court, members of the rightwing Hindu Shiv Sena burst crackers after the sentence was announced. When the confusion cleared, they started shouting slogans like ‘Pakistan murdabad’.

Nitya Ramakrishnan, advocate for Shaukat and his wife, described the death sentence as “savage”. She said she would appeal against the order in the Delhi high court.—J.N.