The manner in which Afzal Guru, accused mastermind of the attack on Parliament in 2001, was executed has embarrassed India, senior jurist Fali Nariman told Karan Thapar, host of "Devil’s Advocate” program on CNN-IBN television. "Our worst enemies couldn’t have done it better. It is very unfortunate,” he said, referring to that fact that the family of the Kashmiri terrorist was not informed in time about the execution, reported The Free Press Journal (FPJ) on February 18, 2013.
The decision to hang Afzal was communicated to his family through Speed Post; why did the authorities not inform them by telephone? Nariman felt that this was because "some government minion must have thought that Afzal Guru would obtain a stay against the death warrant by moving the court,” reported FPJ. "Strictly comply with the jail manual. Send a letter but that does not prevent you from phoning. The jail manual does not say you cannot inform them by phone.” He countered the official stand that the manual stipulates that the intimation be sent by letter as it was written before the era of mobile phones, email and faxes. "These things have to be thought out from a humanitarian aspect. You may certainly hang somebody because the President has refused his mercy plea… The way it was done was unfortunate. I am sure they did not think it out.”