Ironical it is…..that just
few weeks back…in the wake of Kasab’s hanging….there was debate and the human
rights activists, various intellectuals and media as well were talking about
doing away with capital punishment. Some often repeated statements to vindicate
their demand were: Hate the crime, and not the criminal. The society, the
system is responsible for the person who becomes criminal, so just killing the
convict does not solve the problem, hence don’t kill them. Every convict must
be given a chance to repent & reform him/herself in order to be brought
back to the civil society. Many developed countries in Europe and other parts of the world have already banned capital punishment, so
should India .…etc..etc.
Now today, no matter which channel I watch on TV, I only hear one demand from one and all…..be it politicians, activists, celebrities or general public, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT for all those rapists who committed this heinous crime in a school bus in our country’s capital! In-fact many of them have demanded even much harsher, more severe form of punishment…such as, keeping them alive but ostracize them socially, not giving them any job, any social status, any respect, or rotting them up in kala pani styled jail for the whole life, some have gone even further talking about making them impotent, or piercing them similarly with rod as they did to the girl and so on.
After observing these two opposite views coming up within last few weeks, from the same set of people, certain questions did come up in my mind:
What is the difference between an act of rape against a woman of my country and an act of terrorism against my country that only the act of rape should attract capital punishment and those terrorists should be given a chance to reform?
If terrorists deserve a chance to reform on the basis of the above mentioned reasoning which was so prevalent in media at the time of Kasab’s hanging, then based on the same reasoning why not a rapist be given a chance? After all….they too are human beings….though their acts suggest otherwise!
Now let me explain what’s my opinion about this – I think, capital punishment has to be there and if enacted swiftly in a proper way, it can surely act as a deterrent. And especially in these two particular cases, it is more important and in-fact a duty of the state, to send a strong message to all evil minds….their very bones should be shaken by the fear and terror of possible consequences of committing such crimes! I consider the act of terrorism against our country by a foreign aggressor, equally serious and heinous crime if not more, than rape and in both cases the capital punishment to the convict, will surely make others think twice before committing similar crimes.
Of-course, this is not the solution in any case, but it is only a small part of the solution. Of-course lot of work needs to be done in other areas – mentality, social, political, law and administrative reforms and so on. And also, just like any other law or rule, there will be exceptions in case of capital punishment too and of-course, regard has to be given to time, place and person while meeting out such punishment by our courts. But the double standards by the so called human rights activists, intellectuals and some selfish politicians when it comes to punishing these criminals, is frustrating!!
The Hindu tradition, Yoga and spirituality talks about God’s presence in each and every human being irrespective of cast, creed, color religion…that everyone can find that God and every man must try to find God within himself and so on. It’s really a very noble and liberating thought, we have given to the world, and we can safely and surely claim that we were the pioneers in the world of this philosophy. Also the ideal of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence is championed by Indians like nobody else on this planet (Who can forget Gandhi ji). But lets keep all this aside and lets not confuse ourselves when it comes to dealing with such evil!
Because the same tradition, has given us a very clear message that what needs to be done with such demons….Annihilate the devil with the sword of ‘Dharma’ (Justice)…just like a Rama, aKrishna or Arjuna did…pages after
pages in our holy books it has been declared as man’s sacred duty! But due to
too much of a dose of Ahimsa in recent history, it seems as if we have lost our
martial spirit to resist aggression! When such lofty ideals are adopted without
any regard to the time, place and person, then those ideals become corrupted,
rotten and harmful to the very followers of those ideals.
Now today, no matter which channel I watch on TV, I only hear one demand from one and all…..be it politicians, activists, celebrities or general public, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT for all those rapists who committed this heinous crime in a school bus in our country’s capital! In-fact many of them have demanded even much harsher, more severe form of punishment…such as, keeping them alive but ostracize them socially, not giving them any job, any social status, any respect, or rotting them up in kala pani styled jail for the whole life, some have gone even further talking about making them impotent, or piercing them similarly with rod as they did to the girl and so on.
After observing these two opposite views coming up within last few weeks, from the same set of people, certain questions did come up in my mind:
What is the difference between an act of rape against a woman of my country and an act of terrorism against my country that only the act of rape should attract capital punishment and those terrorists should be given a chance to reform?
If terrorists deserve a chance to reform on the basis of the above mentioned reasoning which was so prevalent in media at the time of Kasab’s hanging, then based on the same reasoning why not a rapist be given a chance? After all….they too are human beings….though their acts suggest otherwise!
Now let me explain what’s my opinion about this – I think, capital punishment has to be there and if enacted swiftly in a proper way, it can surely act as a deterrent. And especially in these two particular cases, it is more important and in-fact a duty of the state, to send a strong message to all evil minds….their very bones should be shaken by the fear and terror of possible consequences of committing such crimes! I consider the act of terrorism against our country by a foreign aggressor, equally serious and heinous crime if not more, than rape and in both cases the capital punishment to the convict, will surely make others think twice before committing similar crimes.
Of-course, this is not the solution in any case, but it is only a small part of the solution. Of-course lot of work needs to be done in other areas – mentality, social, political, law and administrative reforms and so on. And also, just like any other law or rule, there will be exceptions in case of capital punishment too and of-course, regard has to be given to time, place and person while meeting out such punishment by our courts. But the double standards by the so called human rights activists, intellectuals and some selfish politicians when it comes to punishing these criminals, is frustrating!!
The Hindu tradition, Yoga and spirituality talks about God’s presence in each and every human being irrespective of cast, creed, color religion…that everyone can find that God and every man must try to find God within himself and so on. It’s really a very noble and liberating thought, we have given to the world, and we can safely and surely claim that we were the pioneers in the world of this philosophy. Also the ideal of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence is championed by Indians like nobody else on this planet (Who can forget Gandhi ji). But lets keep all this aside and lets not confuse ourselves when it comes to dealing with such evil!
Because the same tradition, has given us a very clear message that what needs to be done with such demons….Annihilate the devil with the sword of ‘Dharma’ (Justice)…just like a Rama, a
