India Hangs Man Convicted Of Deadly Parliament Attack In 2001 [Video]

India has hanged a man convicted for his role in the 2001 armed attack of India’s Parliament, according to the country’s home minister.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, from the Indian part of divided Kashmir, was executed Saturday at 8 am for a deadly 2001 attack on India’s Parliament that left 14 people dead.

Guru, who had been on death row since 2002, was convicted of helping organize arms for the gunmen who made the attack and a place for them to stay. Although Guru denied the charges in court, he gave a detailed television interview in 2002 revealing his role in the plot.

“It was the law taking its course,” Home Secretary R.K. Singh told the Associated Press Saturday in New Delhi.

Guru was given a Muslim burial in the prison compound.

Protests broke out, following Guru’s hanging, in at least four parts of Indian Kashmir, including the northwestern town of Sopore, which was Guru’s home.

Scores of protesters chanting slogans including “We want freedom” and “Down with India” defied a curfew and clashed with police and paramilitary troops, who opened fire, injuring four.

CBC writes that dissidents also burned an Indian flag and an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“We appeal to the people to rise in one voice and protest this aggressive act so that it’s known to everyone that even if the heads of Kashmiris are cut, they’ll never bow under any circumstances,” the group said in a statement.

Since 1989, an armed uprising in Indian-controlled Kashmir and an ensuing crackdown have killed an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians, the AP notes.

More on India’s hanging of Afzal Guru in the video below: