On questions being raised on the fairness of the trial

of Guru, he said "The other aspect Government of India will have to look at very seriously is death-row inmates leapfrogging others. There are others who are on a death row for much longer. Now I understand that you have executed Guru in the Parliament attack case and you say that parliament is a symbol of democracy. Understood and no arguments with that." "Is the sitting Chief Minister of Punjab, who was assasinated in office, not a symbol of democracy. You have somebody implicated in that assasination for whom a death sentence has been pronounced and nothing is happening. "I am not calling for a review of the entire thing but if you want to protect yourself from this argument that this was a political decision and not a legal one, then please understand that there are others who are on death row and implicated in attacks against democracy. Is a former Prime Minister not a symbol of democracy. Of course, he is. There are other assasins who are on death row, " he added. On not being taken into confidence before hand on the execution, Omar said that is not true. He expressed concern about his government having been informed about the execution just 12 hours in advance and said he was hurt that the family of Guru had not been informed in due time. "All legal options had been exhausted. It would have been worse if we would have switched on the TV (in the morning) and come to know," he said. Omar said these sort of decisions are not discussed with all the allies or in the cabinet meetings. "Only a handful of people are informed about these decisions. The hanging of Ajmal Kasab was kept a secret, the nuclear tests were kept secret and till this date, we have kept secret the name of the Delhi gang rape victim," he said. Responding to the demand of Guru's family for return of the convict's body, Omar said he will discuss with the centre the implications of such a move. The Chief Minister said his political rivals including the principal opposition party, PDP, would like to hold him responsible for the execution of Guru. "Like it or not, I had no role to play in it. It would have been different if i had to sign the warrant of execution," he said. In response to a question, Omar said "if resigning from the (Union) government can bring back Afzal Guru or bring a closure to the family, he would follow through."