SRINAGAR: “I have full right over his body,” wrote Tabassum, wife of Afzal Guru, to the Indian Home Ministry on Thursday.
She has demanded that the mortal remains of her husband be handed over to her for “proper burial” in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Home Ministry, however, is likely to reject the request citing jail manuals and possible law and order situation which may arise in the event of the body being handed over to the family, official sources told the Press Trust of India in Delhi.
Though the letter was addressed to the Home Ministry, it was first handed over to the Deputy Commisioner of Baramulla, who then forwarded it to the state administration in Srinagar.
The state government faxed the letter to Union Home Secretary R K Singh and a letter by post is expected to reach the Home Ministry in a day or two.
Afzal was buried inside the Tihar jail soon after his hanging in a secret operation on February 9 alongside another Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, who was also buried in the jail complex after his hanging in 1984.
The remains of Bhat were not handed over to his family.
The government has already said it will allow close relatives to visit Afzal’s grave, an offer rejected by the family saying they want nothing but his body.
