Don146;t delay Afzal146;s execution: Advani

Advani, whose party has vowed a week-long campaign to demand hanging of the Parliament attack convict as ordered by the court, insisted that the delay by the government in disposing of the mercy petition for Afzal was 8220;dividing8221; the country and the security forces.

Also, he alleged terrorists perceived the delay as India being a soft state which has no 8220;guts8221; to deal with them. 8220;Do not delay the decision on execution by a single day,8221; he remarked.

His comments came in the wake of the Supreme Court turning down clemency granted by the then Andhra Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde to a Congress activist convicted of murder.