I did not receive papers on Afzal

New Delhi: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam has answered critics over the delay in deciding on the mercy plea of Mohammed Afzal Guru, facing a death sentence for his role in the terror attack on Parliament, contending that he had not received any papers from the government.

'Regarding Afzal Guru, I have not received any papers from the ministry concerned so far,' Kalam said, while responding to a question asked during an interview to India Today magazine on requests for clemency for persons facing the death penalty, including Guru, which had been pending with him.

Kalam, who had sent Guru's mercy plea to the home ministry for its views, went on to say, 'If the papers had come to me, I would have processed them for their worth.'

(If the ex-President Dr. Kalam had disclosed this earlier then some action could have been taken against those government ministers who were repeatedly proclaiming that Afzhal's mercy plea is sent to the President. In fact the President himself should have taken initiative in such cases wherein there is a direct attack on the Indian democracy. From this one can conclude that no one wants to hang the terrorist. – Editor)

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