Clemency for Bhullar

I am worried by the growing demand for clemency for Bhullar being put forward by the Shiromani Akali Dal and even Congress politicians from Punjab. I worry because the “appeal” seems more like a veiled threat. The suggestion that commuting Bhullar’s death sentence to life imprisonment will at least partially assuage feelings among the Sikh community is scary. Where does one draw the line? Will a similar logic not be used to demand that Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab not be hanged? I agree that what Kasab did was far more serious than what Bhullar did (he bombed the Congress office and attacked Youth Congress leader Maninder Singh Bitta). But a precedent will have been set for a clever lawyer to use as defence in other cases.

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