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| Demand for doing away with death penalty gains ground | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 12: The recent execution of the Indian Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru, has set in motion the demand for abolition of death penalty. The demand has been also voiced by many political leaders, including Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti,and other social activists. Well this issue has two sides. One is that why the demand for ending capital punishment did not surface when a Pakistani national, Ajmal Kasab, was hanged to death recently, after he had been awarded death sentence by the courts on charge of his direct involvement in the 2008 deadly terrorist strike in Mumbai which left over 166 people dead? And why the demand for end to death penalty has surfaced when a Kashmiri citizen, Afzal Guru,was executed?
Does it mean that when even politicians, social activists and other intellectuals in Pakistan remained mum over the execution of one of its citizen's under a verdict given by an Indian court that the demand for end to death penalty did not rise. Or does it mean that since the opposition,the ruling NC, the separatists and a large section of people berated the Government of India for implementing the court order by executing Guru after a gap of nine years that voices were heard far and wide in the world supporting the demand for end to death penalty. Expectedly the hanging of Afzal Guru led to global rights groups asking India to end the use of executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty. '"Questions need to be asked why the Indian Government executed Afzal Guru now," New York-based Human Rights Watch's South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly has said. "No one argues that those who engage in serious crimes shouldn't be punished, but the death penalty is brutal and irreversible, and there is no convincing evidence to suggest it serves as a deterrent," Ganguly said. The group said it opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. The hanging of Guru comes just three months after India executed Ajmal Kasab in a Pune jail. Hence the demand has surfaced calling upon India to end this distressing use of executions as a way to satisfy some public opinion. People have started demanding that India should instead join the nations that have chosen to abolish capital punishment.
Well capital punishment has been practised in most parts of the world but during the last over 30 years a large number of countries have abolished death penalty. Even most of the states in the United States have abolished the capital punishment and the same has been done in most of the European countries. Reports indicate that capital punishment has been abolished in over 97 countries. It is on the statute books in less than 58 countries. What is interesting is that in the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, death penalty is yet to be abolished though the courts award the capital punishment in the rarest of rare cases of crime.
Yes, all sensible beings including those who believe in live and let live philosophy are for end to capital punishment. However, whenever any area in India witnesses rarest of the rare crimes the demand for awarding death penalty to the criminals surfaces. The demand for death sentence surfaced when six people gangraped a 23-year old girl and brutalised her leading to her death. But after the level of anger against the rape got diluted majority of people started demanding life imprisonment for rapists and molesters. Well one may not question those who have been campaigning in favour of ending death penalty but the way the world has been plagued by terrorists spilling blood of innocent people, posing a major threat to peace and democratic practices there are many who demand immediate death penalty for these terrorists. They argue that sending terrorists to gallows could demoralise these guntoting fanatics which was needed for peace and progress. |
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