I live in a country where the death penalty has been abolished — Australia. The convicted persons are released on parole after serving a prison sentence.
They are constantly monitored thereafter. Most important, they cannot contest even a local club election.
But in India? Phoolan Devi was given ticket by a reputed party and she became MP. We have a memorial in the Golden Temple at Amritsar for the separatist leaders who died during Operation Bluestar. There is a vociferous demand by the so-called Tamil nationalists to not only commute the death sentence of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers but also release them. Had the life of Nathuram Godse been spared, he would have perhaps become a popular politician.
India with its emotionally surcharged electorate, which can be easily swayed in the name of caste and religion, definitely needs to retain the death sentence. Otherwise, we would have criminals serving as Ministers — given ticket by a party that champions the criminal’s caste interests from a constituency where his caste dominates. It doesn’t matter if he has committed dozens of murders.
Madhusudan,
Homebush West
