Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 26: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah disclosed today that he had written to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on February 19 seeking return of the bodies of Mohammad Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt, both of whom were Kashmiris and were hanged in Tihar jail on February 9, 2013 and February 11, 1984 respectively and their bodies buried in the jail premises.
“I had written to the Prime Minister on the 19th of this month asking for the return of the bodies of both Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt to their families. I had hoped to avoid playing politics with the body of Afzal Guru but that seems to be impossible with the Mufti Sayeed (former Chief Minister and PDP patron) letter now”, Omar tweeted after Mr Sayeed released a letter to the media, which he had written to the Prime Minister seeking return of Guru’s body.
Taking a dig at his political bete noire, Omar said: “I guess I should have played politics by making the letter public immediately but am glad the PDP has joined in support now. I followed this (the letter) up with a visit to the Prime Minister to make the request in person a few days ago. My Government will continue to raise this issue with Delhi”.
Guru, a resident of Sopore, was hanged in Tihar on February 9 and his body buried there while Bhat, a resident of Trehgam, Kupwara was hanged in the same jail on February 11, 1984 and his body was also buried there.
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