Katju writes to Prez, seeks pardon for Bhullar

New Delhi (PTI): Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has written to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking pardon for Devender Pal Singh Bhullar who has been awarded death sentence in connection with the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case. Katju's letter comes close on the heels of a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court rejecting the plea of Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist and death row convict Bhullar in a judgement that paves the way for his execution. Katju said that Bhullar has been in detention since his arrival in India in January 1995 i.e. over 18 years and added that he had suffered prolonged mental agony and trauma for this long period in death row with a Damocles' sword hanging over his head. Assigning reasons behind his plea, Katju said Supreme Court had earlier rejected Bhullar's appeal against his death sentence by a 2-1 majority, not by a unanimous decision and added that the seniormost judge on the bench Justice M B Shah had acquitted Bhullar. Katju said that he had perused the judgement of Justice Shah who had noticed that the only evidence against Bhullar is his alleged confessional statement to the investigating office. Justice Shah has observed that "when the rest of the accused who are named in the confessional statement are not convicted or tried, this was not a fit case for convicting the appellant solely on the basis of the so called confessional statement recorded by the police officer", Katju wrote. He added that Justice Shah noticed in his judgement that there was nothing on record to corroborate the aforesaid alleged confessional statement.

'Honour Ghalib with Bharat Ratna' New Delhi (PTI): Classical Urdu and Persian poet Mirza Ghalib should be honoured with the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna, PCI Chairman Markandey Katju has said. "There has been injustice with Urdu in the country. People associate a particular religion with this language. This is a 'divide and rule' policy. Few people know that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh writes his speech in Urdu. "I believe Mirza Ghalib should be given Bharat Ratna posthumously. If Sardar Vallabhai Patel and B R Ambedkar can be given awards after their deaths, why cant Ghalib be given?" Katju said at the 15th edition of 'Jashn-e-Bahar', an Urdu poetry symposium attended by poets from India, Pakistan, the US and other countries, here last night. Union Minister Kapil Sibal, known for his penchant for poetry, read out two of his poems at the event. "Urdu, if propagated, will spread love and peace. India will be incomplete if it doesn't take Urdu in its stride. Urdu is not a language of the intellectuals, it is of the common man. I believe English, Hindi and Urdu should be taught in every school... There should be Google (version) in Urdu, also mobile handsets should have Urdu letters," Sibal said. The open-air seating against a candle-lit stage with modern calligraphy by late painter M F Husain, was in sync with the mood of the evening. Among the foreign participants who drew wide applause were Max Bruce (the US) and Hiroji Kataoka (Japan). Veteran Urdu poets believe such mushairas (poetic symposiums) help in flourishing the language. "In fact, non-Muslim families are helping a great deal in the process. It is time that Muslim families make their own children learn Urdu," poet Waseem Barelvi said.