My take on "Death Penalty Abolishment"

While Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab rests in his grave, the world is busy mulling over the answer to the moot question posed by his death: Should death penalty be abolished?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

According to Article 1 of UDHR

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Rightly so, all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights but can it be justifiably said that all of them are endowed with reason and conscience?

After witnessing plethora of earth-shattering murders and atrocities in a country believing in such high precepts of human rights, will it be really coherent on the part of any human being in full possession of his faculties to give the aforementioned lines any credence? Are these people who are supposedly “brain-washed” and thence go around killing innocent people, eligible human beings, fit to enjoy the Human Rights? Just because they look like all the other human beings when in fact they do not seem to possess even a shred of humanity does not make the answer to the above question a reasonable YES.

Why the death sentence was correct in Kasab's Case:

Some people believe that the person on whom the death sentence has been pronounced may turn out to be an innocent human being after he is dead, leaving us in a very sorry situation by compelling us to think that we actually stained humanity in his blood. While that is a very coherent explanation for supporting the abolishment of capital punishment, does it really hold water in absolutely transparent cases like that of Kasab?

Also some people propose that Kasab was “brain-washed”, when he was young and thence became a criminal. The canons of humanity dictate that we should give him a chance to transform himself from a savage beast to a civilized saint. Well, if that is the case then the same reason also governs that no one on mother earth should be punished for any offense he/she commits for no one is born a criminal and everyone has a reason like Kasab had.

India: A Soft Nation

Let me refresh your memory by mentioning some unforgettable headlines from the past:

The Mumbai Terrorist Attack, 29th November 2008, claims the lives of over 250 innocent people, leaving over 208 people seriously wounded.

Mumbai Train blast: 209 people killed and over 700 injured.

September 13, 2008 Delhi bombings more than 30 people killed and over 100 injured.

We never really got the chance to witness any effort made by the Human Rights Group, overtly or covertly, to prevent this menace from spreading like a wild fire, let alone curb it.

Either we are used to these kinds of appalling things or we being a soft nation do not wish to take any extreme/serious action to strike off the crime and terror from its very roots. Even the UN General Assembly that passed a draft resolution seeking abolition of the death penalty was quite quick in making its voice heard in this regard but there has always been a grave silence in the wake of terrorist attacks, be it in Mumbai or Delhi. I fail to understand, why?

The resolution was not honored by India and rightly so, for she has done everything constitutionally and within the framework. This audacious and confident move on the part of India heralds that even a soft nation can be unforgiving in the face of unpardonable and deplorable acts of violence.

It is understandable that the purpose behind punishment is to discourage crime among the citizens of the country and Kasab’s execution is a Legal Murder which shall serve as a lesson to all and sundry in the realms of crime, even to those who are supposedly brain washed.

His last statement: “Allah kasam maaf kar do, aisi galti dobara nahi karunga” should have been televised in order for all the terrorists to see the ultimate end of a horrendous drama.

Undoubtedly, India is a land, graced by the indelible presence of great people like Gandhi,
whose only weapon was non-violence and by the likes of the dauntless Ahilya Bai holkar.
Nonetheless, the same Gandhi gave us the slogan “Karo ya maro” and the same kind Ahilya bai didn’t refrain from denying her arms the comfort and warmth of her only son by laying him under an elephant’s feet, on account of  his unpardonable behavior.

The noose of death in this fable has strangled an incorrigible criminal and what follows is, plethora of voices howling over the abolition of capital punishment. Why?

The nation should wake up and smell the coffee, for the common man now yearns to breathe and not gasp in the wake of trepidation. We cannot keep sacrificing thousands of innocent lives so as to protect the “human right of a terrorist” who is hardly a human.

Let’s think once more before abolishing death penalty which is given only for “Rarest of Rare" cases and especially for such crystal clear ones.


Written in collaboration with Neha Jain (my flatmate) for "The Hindu" open page.