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Capital punishment

Updated - March 29, 2016 01:52 pm IST

Capital punishment is indeed an inhuman way of justice while life imprisonment is justifiable as there is always scope for change in a person (“The rope and a chance to reform”, Aug.7). Though intellectuals campaigning against the death penalty have spent much time arguing for life imprisonment, no one appears to have shed light on the conditions of prisons in India. A recent media report showed how Tihar jail has twice the number of inmates it can hold. Besides this, the environment in almost all prisons does not help in reform. The key issue we should be looking at is whether the existing prison environment in India can bring about reform.

Rohit Kumar,

New Delhi

The moral argument against the death penalty is strong. It may be legally right in certain societies but is morally wrong at all times and at all places. You cannot right a wrong by carrying out another wrong. Society may have enacted laws but these are laws created by men. It is a pity that a deeply spiritual society such as ours rejoices in a hanging. I strongly believe that a harsh life sentence will act as a deterrent.

Sridhar Sampath,

Chennai

It is fine to be quoting examples from popular culture, but events in the past decade show that nothing deters terrorists from carrrying out their abominable acts. We are all cognisant of the fact that the Indian government had to spend Rs. 30 crore to ensure a fair trial for Ajmal Kasab. Why should taxpayers’ money be spent to provide facilities for such elements? Such an amount can be used to further education, sanitation and health care. Instead, there should be provision for fast-track courts that dispense justice quickly. The writer’s idea that Yakub’s execution has not been able to provide a sense of closure is unpalatable. Let us consider how keeping a terrorist alive engendered a hostage crisis, an example being the hijacking of 1999. The terrorists who were freed never showed any sign of remorse but went on to become involved in other heinous acts like the 2001 Parliament attack, training of militants in PoK and much worse. Do we need to face a similar crisis in order for the ‘champions of life imprisonment’ to open their eyes?

Chirag Sharma,

Vellore, Tamil Nadu

I can only think of the hostage crisis in 1999, where airline passengers from India faced grave risk to their lives. Keeping terrorists alive might result in a similar situation. Can we forget the damage caused when terrorists had to be released from Indian prisons? In a way, punishment will avert any such situation in future.

Kishore Kaushik,

Mysuru

First, there is a drain on resources while providing ‘food, shelter and safety’ to terrorists. Can India really afford to keep them alive in the hope that such persons will reform themselves? Every crime is different. Perhaps we should focus on the fact that this was a government which did not play politics by keeping a man alive until the eve of elections. In Yakub Memon’s case, the country waited 23 years for justice. Can it not wait a few years to see Maya Kodnani and others brought to justice? From a sociological point of view, it is easy to empathise with a perpetrator as he/she is a single individual and not an abstract entity like his/her victims. Yakub was heard, given a voice and, in the end, held guilty. It is important for us to understand the closure for many people who could not come forward and express themselves in one voice.

Sweety Gupta,

New Delhi

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