New Delhi: Ajaz Ahmad Guru, the elder brother of Afzal Guru who was convicted in 2011 Parliament attack, has said that he will contest the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls as an independent candidate from the Sopore seat.
Ajaz Guru will file his nomination papers either on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to reports. The last day for filing the nomination is Thursday. Sopore is scheduled to go to polls in the third phase.
In 2014, he took voluntary retirement from animal husbandry department. At present, Ajaz works as a contractor.
“When everyone is contesting elections why shouldn’t I. I have a different ideology than my brother but I will fight for those youths who have been arrested in fabricated cases by police including my son Shoiab who was arrested nine months ago by police in a fabricated case,” the 58-year-old Ajaz was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.
Citing the recent win of Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, Ajaz pointed out that when Engineer Rashid’s son Abrar Rashid campaigned for his father, why can’t he do so for his son who is studying in Pune. “I will prove my son didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
Ajaz contended that he will not seek votes in the name of Afzal Guru, his brother who was hanged to death in 2013 and his body was buried inside Tihar Jail premises. Asserting that his ideology was different from his brother, he said that people in Kashmir were betrayed by every political leader. “Some in the name of autonomy, self-rule and some in the name of ‘Azadi’,” Ajaz was quoted by the news outlet.
‘Afzal Guru was innocent, framed by cops,’ BJP ally JDU leader says
A Janta Dal United (JDU) leader in Jammu and Kashmir stirred a row after he remarked that Afzal Guru was innocent. J&K JDU chief GM Shaheen said, “Afzal Guru was innocent. If he had money he would not have been hanged.” The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Janta Dal United J&K chief in Sopore, J&K, said this while addressing a public meeting for the election. Shaheen added that it was then Deputy SP, who hatched the plot against Afzal and sent him to Delhi where he was later arrested.
Pro-separatist Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid granted bail
Meanwhile, in a big development, pro-separatist Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid was granted interim bail till October 2. He will campaign in J&K elections.
Delhi’s special NIA court granted interim bail to Engineer Rashid in connection with a terror funding case. He was given bail to allow him to campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Engineer Rashid defeated Omar Abdullah in General Elections.
In 2019, he was arrested by the NIA in the terror funding case and has been in Tihar Jail since then. He was detained by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with his arrest tied to the 2017 terror funding case.