www.rsis.edu.sg 25 – 31 August20-26 July 2014 2015

Country Weekly Report of International Centre for Political Violence and Research

INDIA

Terrorism

On 21 July 2015, the Supreme Court of had dismissed the curative petition of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, sole death row convict and a co-conspirator of fugitive in the 1993 serial blasts case. Memon, in his plea, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and remained behind the bars for nearly 20 years. He had sought commutation of death penalty, contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the extreme penalty simultaneously for the same offence. He is due to be hung on the 30 of July 20151.

On 22 July 2015, a curfew was imposed in the town of Rajouri in Jammu and Kahmir after an angry mob clashed with policemen. The clash was triggered when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) flags were burnt. The mob was angered as the flags allegedly contained versus for the Quran. The flags were set ablaze by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)2.

On the same day, Lt. Gen Subrata Saha, army chief in the Kashmir region, expressed concern that several Kashmiri youths were joining militancy and said it was the collective responsibility of all the agencies to stop the trend and engage the youngsters in constructive activities. On the issue of waving and more recently the burning of terror outfit ISIS’s flag in Kashmir valley, Lt Gen Saha said that it was an important development, which was required to be watched by various agencies3.

1 to be hanged on July 30, The Assam Tribune, 22/07/2015, http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jul2215/at055 2 Curfew in Rajouri after burning of ISIS flag triggers clashes, Army called in, Zee News, 22/07/2015, http://zeenews.india.com/news/jammu-and-kashmir/curfew-in-rajouri-after-burning-of-isis-flag-triggers- clashes-army-called-in_1634070.html 3 Local youth joining militancy cause of concern: Lt Gen Saha, The Daily Excelsior, 23/07/2015, http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/local-youth-joining-militancy-cause-of-concern-lt-gen-saha/