NEW DELHI, Nov 23: The stalled hanging of Kashmiri convict Mohammad Afzal Guru paralysed both houses of the Indian parliament on Thursday after slogan-chanting BJP-Shiv Sena members disrupted the proceedings for much of the day.
Guru has been sentenced to death by an Indian court and was scheduled to be hanged on Oct 20, but a mercy petition was filed and is now pending before President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
As the Lok Sabha assembled for taking up question hour, the BJP-Shiv Sena members leapt to their feet, waving placards, newspapers clippings and chanting slogans 'Afzal Ko Phaansi Do' (Hang Afzal!), accusing the government of being soft towards Muslims.
Failing to restore order, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee first adjourned the House, but when the House re-assembled the BJP-Shiv Sena members forced a daylong closure.
The Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for an hour and later for the day as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members created uproarious scenes in the House for the ''delay'' in carrying out the death sentence.
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj spearheaded the attack on the government for the delay in hanging the main accused for the attack on the British-built Parliament House. The attack on Dec 13, 2001 led to a year-long military standoff with Pakistan.
Human rights lawyers say Guru and his other co-accused were framed by the BJP administration of the time to promote a communal political agenda. The winter session of the parliament will last till the last week of next month.
