Congress leaders stoke controversy with remarks on Yakub Memon's hanging

New Delhi: Stoking a controversy, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday said the credibility of government and judiciary was at stake after the "urgency" shown in Yakub Memon's case while his party MP Shashi Tharoor questioned the efficacy of death sentence in serving as a deterrent.

Reacting sharply, BJP said such remarks were "irresponsible" and "unfortunate" as they seek to question the judicial process and demanded that the opposition party clear its stand on the issue.

After 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon was hanged in Nagpur jail this morning, Singh, in a series of tweets, said the government and judiciary should display the same "exemplary urgency and commitment" in all cases of terror irrespective of the religion of the accused.

"Yakub Memon hanged. Exemplary urgency and commitment has been shown by Govt and Judiciary in punishing an accused of Terror. I hope similar commitment of Govt and Judiciary would be shown in all cases of terror irrespective of their caste creed and religion," he said.

"I have my doubts the way the cases of other Terror accused are being conducted. Let's see. Credibility of the Govt and Judiciary is at stake," Singh said.

The remarks came in the backdrop of allegations of slowing of probe in the 2008 Malegaon case, in which right wing Hindu elements were allegedly involved.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that he was "saddened" by the news that "our government has hanged a human being. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all by reducing us to murderers too".

He, however, later added that he was not going into the merits of this case but was opposed "to the principle and practice of the death penalty in our country".

In his tweets, Tharoor raised questions over the efficacy of death penalty in acting as a deterrent. "There is no evidence that death penalty serves as a deterrent: to the contrary in fact. All it does is exact retribution: unworthy of a Govt."

The Kerala MP said while "we must fight against terrorism with all the means at our command but cold-blooded execution" has never prevented a terror attack anywhere.

He at the same time clarified that he was not commenting on the merits of a specific case saying it was for the Supreme Court to decide. "Problem is death penalty in principle & practice," he said.

The remarks by Singh and Tharoor evoked angry reactions from the BJP.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley said "irresponsible" statements by Congress leaders with regard Mumbai blast accused were a cause of concern. "We expect Sonia Gandhi to clarify before the nation," he said.

BJP said their comments were "insult" to the people wanting to get rid of terrorism, and that any politics over is regrettable.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked Singh, saying his comments "seek to question the judicial process", and spoke of Singh's attempts at "alignment" between judicial process and politics. "It is regrettable and unfortunate," he said.

Prasad said he chose to ignore Tharoor's tweets against the hanging, which the Congress MP dubbed as "state-sponsored killing", and added that he was "more troubled" by Singh's comments as he was a Congress general secretary, chief minister for 10 years and an "adviser" to party vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Prasad's ministerial colleague Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he was shocked with Tharoor's comments and termed them as "bizarre".

"Can terrorism remain sans politics? Can the process of justice be discarded by a tweet of a senior member of Parliament," he wondered, adding that the judicial process had been completed in Memon's case before he was hanged today.

Prasad noted the Supreme Court had an unprecedented hearing at 3 am, in which it rejected his lawyers' last-gasp attempts to stay his hanging.

Taking a dig at Tharoor, Rudy said he had been handling many cases and should be familiar with legal process. "If such was his feelings, he should have intervened at right time but not debate an issue when it has been settled," he said.

BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma took on the Congress over its two leaders' comments, saying the opposition party had always spoken in different voice on terrorism.

"Whether it is Mani Shankar Aiyar or Digvijay Singh and we have comments from Tharoor today, they (Congress) have always seen to be speaking for terrorists. It is clear from their statements today that they are insulting the peace-loving people who want to get rid of terrorism," Sharma said.