Clemency request sparks chaos in IHK assembly

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Clemency request sparks chaos in IHK assembly

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The legislature in Indian-held Kashmir erupted in chaos Wednesday and was adjourned for the day.

28 September,2011 09:29 pm

The chaos erupted over a clemency request for a man sentenced to death in a deadly 2001 attack on Indias Parliament.Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri, confessed in TV interviews that he helped plot the attack that killed 14, including all five attackers. He has since denied any involvement and said he was tortured into confessing.Opposition lawmakers from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party did not allow any business to be conducted in the legislature and demanded that a resolution asking Indias president to commute Gurus death sentence be dropped.Congress party members from the ruling coalition also yelled slogans accusing the BJP legislators of corruption.Gurus death sentence sparked protests in Kashmir and warnings that his execution could destabilize the volatile Himalayan region.Since 1989, an armed uprising in Indian-held Kashmir and an ensuing crackdown have killed an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians.