Reacting to the renewed demand to give effect to the death sentence awarded to Afzal Guru, former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today said that the demand was "politically motivated."
"There are 30-35 files (mercy petitions) pending. Why to single out Guru for expeditious disposal of them?", he countered the media while on a personal visit to Aurangabad last night.
Afzal Guru was convicted in the Parliament attack case and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court.
Patil, who resigned following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, went on to say, "We have not sent Afzal Guru to Pakistan. He is very much here. The Afzal Guru issue was being politicised.'
However, law would take its own course, Patil said.
Taking a dig on the opposition parties, Patil without naming the then BJP-led NDA government, hinted that the earlier government had released Azhar Masood, head of Jaish-e-Mohammed, who is now in Pakistan.
Masood was accompanied along with the then foreign minister Jaswant Singh to Kandahaar in Afghanistan where an Indian Airlines flight was hijacked with Indian passengers onboard.
Regarding his resignation, he said, "I resigned due to public pressure and on moral ground after the 26/11 terror attack."
"India is capable to confront terrorism and has all the mighty force to tackle it," the former Union Home Minister added.
