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The Hanging of Afzal Guru and the Strange Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament
On 13 December 2001, the Indian Parliament was attacked by a few heavily armed men. Eleven years later, we still do not know who was behind the attack, nor the identity of the attackers. Both the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court of India have noted that the police violated legal safeguards, fabricated evidence and extracted false confessions. Yet, on 9 February 2013, one man, Mohammad Afzal Guru, was hanged to satisfy the collective conscience of society. This updated reader brings together essays by lawyers, academics, journalists and writers who have looked closely at the available facts and who have raised serious questions about the investigations and the trial. This new version examines the implications of Mohammad Afzal Guru s hanging and what it says about the Indian government s relationship with Kashmir.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Arundhati Roy
102 books13.3k followersArundhati Roy is an Indian writer who is also an activist who focuses on issues related to social justice and economic inequality. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays.
For her work as an activist she received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002.
For her work as an activist she received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 25, 2018
Who is Afzal Guru? If this question is asked to any average Indian, you will get the following answer: “The mastermind of the 2001 parliament attack conspiracy.”
On 13 December 2001, five armed men in a white Ambassador car loaded with explosives drove through the gates of the Indian parliament in an attempt to blow it up. In the ensuing gunfight, all the five were killed along with six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a gardener. The police swung into action, and in a rare show of supreme efficiency, all the conspirators were apprehended within a week and confessions extracted. The legislative also swung into action and the draconian POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) was pushed through on 19 December. Since the confessions of the arrestees (all Kashmiris) confirmed their terrorist and Pakistani links, massive military mobilisation on the border resulted with a very frightening standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The accused were: (1) Mohammad Afzal Guru, a surrendered militant; (2) Shaukat Hussain Guru (cousin of Afzal Guru); (3) Afsan Guru, Shaukat’s wife, who was Navjot Sidhu before marriage and (4) Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, a lecturer from Delhi. The special court found all of them guilty within a record period of six months. All the three men were found guilty of various crimes under Indian Penal Code and the draconian POTA and sentenced to death. Afsan was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.
Later on, defences sprang up for the accused, put together by concerned people who were in no way convinced of their guilt. The Delhi High Court reversed the decisions in case of Afsan and Geelani, but upheld that of Afzal and Shaukat. The Supreme Court later commuted Shaukat’s sentence to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment, while upholding Afzal Guru’s death penalty. After languishing for eleven years on the death row, he was hanged on 9 February 2013.
------------
Personally, I did not follow the parliament attack case with an avid interest as 2001 was a year of great personal importance for me, and I was more or less cloistered within the confines of my personal cocoon (aren’t most Indians like that?). I became settled again only in 2007, by which time the case was done and dusted – and Afzal Guru was awaiting the hangman’s rope. Like most Indians, I had no doubt that the Indian law enforcement and judiciary had given off their best, and that Afzal was guilty as charged. When he was hanged in 2013, I objected to it as a matter of principle (I had come to believe that capital punishment was inhuman by then) but not because I felt that there had been a miscarriage of justice.
The first bad feeling I had about the hanging was when I read the personal experience of Kobad Ghandy (a jailed Maoist), of his time with Afzal Guru in the book ‘Behind Bars’. The man did not come across as a religious fanatic or terrorist. Also, by the time, there was a lot of noise being made across India in the name of his ‘wrongful arrest and execution’. So I thought it was time to have a look at the other side of the story, when I chanced upon this book.
It is a collection of essays by the various people who were not convinced of the guilt of the conspirators, and tried to save them from the gallows. They were successful in the case of two, but could not save Afzal. Three-fourths of the book cover the period when he was on death row, waiting for a possible presidential pardon; the last part relates to his hanging and its aftermath.
All the writers concur on two things: (1) the guilt against Afzal Guru has not been proven at all, and there has been serious miscarriage of justice; and (2) there are layers of secrecy covering the parliament attack case, which have not been brought to light. After going through all the essays , I must say that they have done a good job of convincing me.
However, as in all such cases, we can choose to believe whom we wish to, I will limit my summary of the book to the incontrovertible facts and testimony which has been agreed to by people on both sides of the issue, and leave the readers to form their own opinions.
------------
First of all, before going on to the facts of the case, I would like to share a paragraph of the Supreme Court verdict upholding the death penalty on Afzal.
While I have no quarrel with the enormity of the offence (had it been proven), a phrase made me cringe. Awarding capital punishment to someone to “satisfy the collective conscience of the society”? Anyway, one cannot question the wisdom of the apex court, so let us leave it here and see whether the case against Afzal (and his ‘co-conspirators’) have been proven beyond doubt.
None of the accused has committed any act of violence. All they are accused is of criminal conspiracy, and the evidence against them is solely circumstantial (even the SC remarks on that). Now let us look into the nature of the evidence.
1. Afzal Guru, according to the police, was reached through Geelani, though telephone records from his mobile phone. However, the records are available only for 17 December while all the accused have been arrested by 15 December.
2. All the ‘evidence’ against Geelani was thrown out in the High Court. The main argument, that he had received calls from Pakistan, was proved to be false. None of the eighty witnesses produced by the prosecution alleged that the accused were part of any militant organisation.
3. The police alleged that Afzal’s mobile number was written on all the fake I-cards of ‘Xansa Web City’ recovered from the dead militants. But the SIM for this number has not been found; moreover, the fake I-cards recovered from the site has not been sealed. It is enlightening to note that Head Constable Ashwini Kumar who did the crime scene investigation refutes that any number was so written.
4. The only material evidence against Afzal is that he took one ‘Tariq’ to Delhi and helped him to buy the car which was used in the attack. Afzal does not deny this, but he says he did it at the insistence of the police. While he could be lying, it is worthwhile to note that he is a surrendered militant constantly under the eye of the STF.
5. Afzal’s confession was obtained under torture (as confirmed by him as well as Inspector Rajbir Singh of the STF). Procedural safeguards were not followed. He was forced to confess to the press, and when he exonerated Geelani in the confession, the police shouted at him and urged the press to ignore that part.
6. One of the slain terrorists was identified as Mohammed Yasin Fateh Mohammed (alias Abu Hamza) of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, who had been arrested in Mumbai and handed over to J&K Police in 2000, by the Police Commissioner of Thane S.M. Shangari.
7. Three Pakistani militants were supposed to be controlling Afzal; Tariq, Ghazi Baba and Maulana Masood Azar. The said Tariq was supposed to be in Delhi. However, after the closure of the case, no further investigation regarding these connections seems to have taken place.
(These are only a few of the inconsistencies in the case against Afzal. The book is full of them: if one is willing to spend the time and effort, it would be easy to list at least a dozen more.)
------------
Now let us come to the trail. Apart from using the illegal confession drawn under torture to incriminate him, Afzal was not even provided a counsel. When he requested either one of four out of a list of names provided as public counsel by the court, the reply was that none of them were willing to represent him. Ultimately the advocated provided by the court, after doing a half-hearted job (many incriminating evidence was admitted without challenge) withdrew under the excuse that she was moving on to represent a co-accused. Then the court provided an amicus curie (means “friend of the court”) to handle the case from Afzal’s side! This person was openly hostile to Afzal, and even communal (according to him) so that Afzal was forced to cross-examine witnesses himself, while Ram Jethmalani was arguing for Geelani! No wonder he lost the case.
Citing all this, prominent advocate Indira Jaising filed a curative petition, which also was surprisingly rejected. Remember, a man under death sentence is asking only for a just hearing and is being refused... in my opinion, to call this a travesty of justice would be mild!
Add to this the media trial. Based on the information provided by the police, the national media constructed a terrorist tale worthy of the best of Bollywood (Zee TV even dramatised it). That this kind of sensationalism while the trail was going on would influence it fell on deaf ears, as it was the common opinion that our judiciary is not influenced by popular opinion. Later on, when most of the ‘news’ was proven false, none of the media cared to apologise.
(In this context, I am reminded of the ‘ISRO Spy Case’ in Kerala, where the media and police together created a sensational tale and ruined a great scientist’s life and career in the process. Just Google ‘Nambi Narayanan’ and you’ll see.)
And one more thing – the details of the tortures suspected Kashmiri militants are subjected to, gleefully recounted by the police. You can hardly read through it without wanting to vomit. And we call ourselves a democracy!
------------
Was Afzal Guru guilty? Maybe. Even after all the holes in the prosecution evidence, the contradictions and the procedural lapses, there is a slim chance that he may have been clever enough to plot the attack and obfuscate it to this extent. But I seriously doubt it.
Should Afzal have been hanged? In my opinion, an emphatic NO! Apart from my objection to the death penalty in principle, in case where there is a reasonable doubt regarding the guilt, the benefit of the same should go to the accused. It is our collective duty as a civilised democracy.
But the main thing I took away from the book was that it is imperative to change our approach on Kashmir, if we want lasting peace in the valley. We have alienated the Kasmiri youth so much and so much poison has been injected into the mind of the average Indian regarding the ‘Kashmiri Terrorist’ that it would be a gargantuan task to rebuild the confidence. But it is high time we made the effort.
If only to prevent the genesis of future Afzal Gurus.
On 13 December 2001, five armed men in a white Ambassador car loaded with explosives drove through the gates of the Indian parliament in an attempt to blow it up. In the ensuing gunfight, all the five were killed along with six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel and a gardener. The police swung into action, and in a rare show of supreme efficiency, all the conspirators were apprehended within a week and confessions extracted. The legislative also swung into action and the draconian POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) was pushed through on 19 December. Since the confessions of the arrestees (all Kashmiris) confirmed their terrorist and Pakistani links, massive military mobilisation on the border resulted with a very frightening standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The accused were: (1) Mohammad Afzal Guru, a surrendered militant; (2) Shaukat Hussain Guru (cousin of Afzal Guru); (3) Afsan Guru, Shaukat’s wife, who was Navjot Sidhu before marriage and (4) Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, a lecturer from Delhi. The special court found all of them guilty within a record period of six months. All the three men were found guilty of various crimes under Indian Penal Code and the draconian POTA and sentenced to death. Afsan was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.
Later on, defences sprang up for the accused, put together by concerned people who were in no way convinced of their guilt. The Delhi High Court reversed the decisions in case of Afsan and Geelani, but upheld that of Afzal and Shaukat. The Supreme Court later commuted Shaukat’s sentence to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment, while upholding Afzal Guru’s death penalty. After languishing for eleven years on the death row, he was hanged on 9 February 2013.
------------
Personally, I did not follow the parliament attack case with an avid interest as 2001 was a year of great personal importance for me, and I was more or less cloistered within the confines of my personal cocoon (aren’t most Indians like that?). I became settled again only in 2007, by which time the case was done and dusted – and Afzal Guru was awaiting the hangman’s rope. Like most Indians, I had no doubt that the Indian law enforcement and judiciary had given off their best, and that Afzal was guilty as charged. When he was hanged in 2013, I objected to it as a matter of principle (I had come to believe that capital punishment was inhuman by then) but not because I felt that there had been a miscarriage of justice.
The first bad feeling I had about the hanging was when I read the personal experience of Kobad Ghandy (a jailed Maoist), of his time with Afzal Guru in the book ‘Behind Bars’. The man did not come across as a religious fanatic or terrorist. Also, by the time, there was a lot of noise being made across India in the name of his ‘wrongful arrest and execution’. So I thought it was time to have a look at the other side of the story, when I chanced upon this book.
It is a collection of essays by the various people who were not convinced of the guilt of the conspirators, and tried to save them from the gallows. They were successful in the case of two, but could not save Afzal. Three-fourths of the book cover the period when he was on death row, waiting for a possible presidential pardon; the last part relates to his hanging and its aftermath.
All the writers concur on two things: (1) the guilt against Afzal Guru has not been proven at all, and there has been serious miscarriage of justice; and (2) there are layers of secrecy covering the parliament attack case, which have not been brought to light. After going through all the essays , I must say that they have done a good job of convincing me.
However, as in all such cases, we can choose to believe whom we wish to, I will limit my summary of the book to the incontrovertible facts and testimony which has been agreed to by people on both sides of the issue, and leave the readers to form their own opinions.
------------
First of all, before going on to the facts of the case, I would like to share a paragraph of the Supreme Court verdict upholding the death penalty on Afzal.
“The gravity of the crime conceived by the conspirators with the potential of causing enormous casualties and dislocating the functioning of the Government as well as disrupting normal life of the people of India is something which cannot be described in words. The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender.”
While I have no quarrel with the enormity of the offence (had it been proven), a phrase made me cringe. Awarding capital punishment to someone to “satisfy the collective conscience of the society”? Anyway, one cannot question the wisdom of the apex court, so let us leave it here and see whether the case against Afzal (and his ‘co-conspirators’) have been proven beyond doubt.
None of the accused has committed any act of violence. All they are accused is of criminal conspiracy, and the evidence against them is solely circumstantial (even the SC remarks on that). Now let us look into the nature of the evidence.
1. Afzal Guru, according to the police, was reached through Geelani, though telephone records from his mobile phone. However, the records are available only for 17 December while all the accused have been arrested by 15 December.
2. All the ‘evidence’ against Geelani was thrown out in the High Court. The main argument, that he had received calls from Pakistan, was proved to be false. None of the eighty witnesses produced by the prosecution alleged that the accused were part of any militant organisation.
3. The police alleged that Afzal’s mobile number was written on all the fake I-cards of ‘Xansa Web City’ recovered from the dead militants. But the SIM for this number has not been found; moreover, the fake I-cards recovered from the site has not been sealed. It is enlightening to note that Head Constable Ashwini Kumar who did the crime scene investigation refutes that any number was so written.
4. The only material evidence against Afzal is that he took one ‘Tariq’ to Delhi and helped him to buy the car which was used in the attack. Afzal does not deny this, but he says he did it at the insistence of the police. While he could be lying, it is worthwhile to note that he is a surrendered militant constantly under the eye of the STF.
5. Afzal’s confession was obtained under torture (as confirmed by him as well as Inspector Rajbir Singh of the STF). Procedural safeguards were not followed. He was forced to confess to the press, and when he exonerated Geelani in the confession, the police shouted at him and urged the press to ignore that part.
6. One of the slain terrorists was identified as Mohammed Yasin Fateh Mohammed (alias Abu Hamza) of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, who had been arrested in Mumbai and handed over to J&K Police in 2000, by the Police Commissioner of Thane S.M. Shangari.
7. Three Pakistani militants were supposed to be controlling Afzal; Tariq, Ghazi Baba and Maulana Masood Azar. The said Tariq was supposed to be in Delhi. However, after the closure of the case, no further investigation regarding these connections seems to have taken place.
(These are only a few of the inconsistencies in the case against Afzal. The book is full of them: if one is willing to spend the time and effort, it would be easy to list at least a dozen more.)
------------
Now let us come to the trail. Apart from using the illegal confession drawn under torture to incriminate him, Afzal was not even provided a counsel. When he requested either one of four out of a list of names provided as public counsel by the court, the reply was that none of them were willing to represent him. Ultimately the advocated provided by the court, after doing a half-hearted job (many incriminating evidence was admitted without challenge) withdrew under the excuse that she was moving on to represent a co-accused. Then the court provided an amicus curie (means “friend of the court”) to handle the case from Afzal’s side! This person was openly hostile to Afzal, and even communal (according to him) so that Afzal was forced to cross-examine witnesses himself, while Ram Jethmalani was arguing for Geelani! No wonder he lost the case.
Citing all this, prominent advocate Indira Jaising filed a curative petition, which also was surprisingly rejected. Remember, a man under death sentence is asking only for a just hearing and is being refused... in my opinion, to call this a travesty of justice would be mild!
Add to this the media trial. Based on the information provided by the police, the national media constructed a terrorist tale worthy of the best of Bollywood (Zee TV even dramatised it). That this kind of sensationalism while the trail was going on would influence it fell on deaf ears, as it was the common opinion that our judiciary is not influenced by popular opinion. Later on, when most of the ‘news’ was proven false, none of the media cared to apologise.
(In this context, I am reminded of the ‘ISRO Spy Case’ in Kerala, where the media and police together created a sensational tale and ruined a great scientist’s life and career in the process. Just Google ‘Nambi Narayanan’ and you’ll see.)
And one more thing – the details of the tortures suspected Kashmiri militants are subjected to, gleefully recounted by the police. You can hardly read through it without wanting to vomit. And we call ourselves a democracy!
------------
Was Afzal Guru guilty? Maybe. Even after all the holes in the prosecution evidence, the contradictions and the procedural lapses, there is a slim chance that he may have been clever enough to plot the attack and obfuscate it to this extent. But I seriously doubt it.
Should Afzal have been hanged? In my opinion, an emphatic NO! Apart from my objection to the death penalty in principle, in case where there is a reasonable doubt regarding the guilt, the benefit of the same should go to the accused. It is our collective duty as a civilised democracy.
But the main thing I took away from the book was that it is imperative to change our approach on Kashmir, if we want lasting peace in the valley. We have alienated the Kasmiri youth so much and so much poison has been injected into the mind of the average Indian regarding the ‘Kashmiri Terrorist’ that it would be a gargantuan task to rebuild the confidence. But it is high time we made the effort.
If only to prevent the genesis of future Afzal Gurus.
Read
September 25, 2016"Public Consciousness" - This word in this court verdict made me laugh!
May 9, 2021
A very profound collection of articles related to the hanging of the purported "terrorist mastermind" and the whole narratives around the attack on Indian Parliament.
It's very shocking and disturbing to know that the person whom you believed to be a ruthless terrorist was actually an innocent who wished to live a simple life with his family. A shiver runs up my spine when I got to know that despite his unlawful arrest without any solid incriminating evidence, instead of being acquitted he was hanged only to satisfy the "collective conscience of society". It makes you fear for your own life as anyone can be wrongly prosecuted as a terrorist and even could be hanged without proper legal representation. After the completion of the book one would even question the state and judiciary as a whole as they were hand in glove in this sordidness. When they need a scapegoat, the whole government apparatus, media, judiciary and even the activists would act as a single entity to see the job through.
It's very shocking and disturbing to know that the person whom you believed to be a ruthless terrorist was actually an innocent who wished to live a simple life with his family. A shiver runs up my spine when I got to know that despite his unlawful arrest without any solid incriminating evidence, instead of being acquitted he was hanged only to satisfy the "collective conscience of society". It makes you fear for your own life as anyone can be wrongly prosecuted as a terrorist and even could be hanged without proper legal representation. After the completion of the book one would even question the state and judiciary as a whole as they were hand in glove in this sordidness. When they need a scapegoat, the whole government apparatus, media, judiciary and even the activists would act as a single entity to see the job through.
December 27, 2013
The book “The Hanging of Afzal Guru”, with a note of introduction by ‘Arundhati Roy’, carries the articles, interviews, opinions, and essays of lawyers, journalists, academicians, and social activists. It introduces untapped angles of the attack on Indian parliament. There are straight to the point articles that talk about the unfair trial of Afzal Guru’s. However, these people do not distrust the ruling of the apex court but use their right to raise their voice. It is a good point about the book that it does not try to impose its findings, view points, and opinions on the readers. On the other hand, it empowers the reader with facts to know the complete truth behind this attack on democracy, which never came in public view. It reports the heinous crimes, conducted by security forces during custody of Kashmiri youngsters, who live in & out of valley.
http://huesofasoul.wordpress.com/2013...
http://huesofasoul.wordpress.com/2013...
May 5, 2013
every indian should read this
January 7, 2017
Repetitive after a point, but shocking and educational. It's a book everyone who has an interest in Indian democracy should read. It's a work of resistance. For Kashmir.
April 8, 2016
This is such a lucid way to put forth just how many injustices were done in the name of the law and democracy to one man who should have been let off after 10 years at best. A must read for critical thinking individuals, this collection of essays tries to shed light on all facets of the causes and aftermath of the Afzal Guru case. Definitely a book I'm going to revisit many times over.
June 2, 2013
Important to read...
January 26, 2016
Forthcoming.
September 30, 2020
While reading this book there was several question was been in my mind. The most Important question was in mind.
Does government of India knows what was the motive of attack on the Parliament. Afazal Guru was a pawn in this case. Somehow compensation was being paid to the family of martyred soldiers and citizens of India. Which organization, agency & country was behind this attack. As a citizen of India will our government will ever to expose this to us.
BJP wanted to gain political mileage. In 2014 there was an assembly election and BJP wanted to gain this on the name of Nationalism (Fake Nationalism). Propaganda is being made on nationalism as if entire Indian State is in Danger. Fake nationalism worked and BJP was in Power.
Condition of valley. Though India is on the economical growth but the valley is still waiting for its turn. No internet, Only army vehicle could be seen across the valley. Only guns and firing could be heard. Forget about the lovely roses and musical strings. Just think about the children who are being grown up there. Only guns no roses. Blood is being flooded through the valley. Will they see a better day like us.
A good book to read . Afzal Guru interrogation, conviction and execution tell how strong is the law. One can not escape from it. But at the same time it raises question on agencies too. Will those culprits will be hanged who has been enjoying Pakistan.
Does government of India knows what was the motive of attack on the Parliament. Afazal Guru was a pawn in this case. Somehow compensation was being paid to the family of martyred soldiers and citizens of India. Which organization, agency & country was behind this attack. As a citizen of India will our government will ever to expose this to us.
BJP wanted to gain political mileage. In 2014 there was an assembly election and BJP wanted to gain this on the name of Nationalism (Fake Nationalism). Propaganda is being made on nationalism as if entire Indian State is in Danger. Fake nationalism worked and BJP was in Power.
Condition of valley. Though India is on the economical growth but the valley is still waiting for its turn. No internet, Only army vehicle could be seen across the valley. Only guns and firing could be heard. Forget about the lovely roses and musical strings. Just think about the children who are being grown up there. Only guns no roses. Blood is being flooded through the valley. Will they see a better day like us.
A good book to read . Afzal Guru interrogation, conviction and execution tell how strong is the law. One can not escape from it. But at the same time it raises question on agencies too. Will those culprits will be hanged who has been enjoying Pakistan.
September 7, 2021
As Afzal, as Mohammad Afzal . I am Afzal for kashmiris, and i am Afzal for Indians as well but the two groups have entirely conflicting perceptions of my being.I would naturally trust the judgement of kashmiri people not only because I am one of them but also because they are well aware of the reality that i have been through and they cannot be misled into believing any distorted versions of either history or any incident.
This is what Afzal narrates when asked "what do you want to be known as?" by Vinod k Jose.
Mohammad Afzal Guru was arrested in connection with 13 Dec 2001 attack on Indian parliament.
The supreme court acknowledged that Afzal was neither the mastermind nor the executor of the parliament attack,and that it had no direct evidence but only circumstantial evidence to prove Afzal's guilt as a conspirator.
Afzal was hanged on 9 Feb 2013 in Tihar jail in secrecy without informing the family members and his mortal remains were buried in Tihar jail thus again denying the right for death with dignity and aftercare according to religion. He was also not given fair representation as was received by others accused along with him.
This incident is referred to as "miscarriage of justice and in Afzal's own words ," a black spot on the judicial and political system of India".
Rest in peace Mohammad Afzal Guru
This is what Afzal narrates when asked "what do you want to be known as?" by Vinod k Jose.
Mohammad Afzal Guru was arrested in connection with 13 Dec 2001 attack on Indian parliament.
The supreme court acknowledged that Afzal was neither the mastermind nor the executor of the parliament attack,and that it had no direct evidence but only circumstantial evidence to prove Afzal's guilt as a conspirator.
Afzal was hanged on 9 Feb 2013 in Tihar jail in secrecy without informing the family members and his mortal remains were buried in Tihar jail thus again denying the right for death with dignity and aftercare according to religion. He was also not given fair representation as was received by others accused along with him.
This incident is referred to as "miscarriage of justice and in Afzal's own words ," a black spot on the judicial and political system of India".
Rest in peace Mohammad Afzal Guru
September 25, 2020
A dark account of shoddy police investigation and blind judicial system, which led to hanging of a man who was not given a fair chance of defense. You are bound to lose trust in Indian Judiciary, Media and Investigating agencies once you come across the details of the horrendous trial.
May 11, 2018
"Collective conscience". But how do you judge whose collective conscience it really is, how representative it is; and most importantly, how was it even built in the first place?
January 3, 2019
Must must read for every citizen of India.
April 24, 2019
Compellingly articulated thin defence of a sinister story
Want to read
January 17, 2020This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2020
What a brilliant book, and what an amazing introduction to reading Indian non fiction.
August 13, 2017
story of a judicial killing
Read
January 28, 2021an essential read to everyone who has his doubts on Guru, Rest in Peace, and whoever fails to question indian government for it's actions
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews