Should Death Penalty be Abolished? (Student Assignment)

Death Penalty: Should it be abolished? - is the biggest, the oldest and the highly debated issue, to which no proper solution have till now been arrived at.

‘Death Penalty’ is said to have existed in India, even before independence. Even after the independence-during the drafting of the constitution-despite all oppositions, it was retained. From then on, Death Penalty has been inviting mixed response.  Some people have been for it, while the other group stays against it; and each have their own set of justifications for their stand. I am one among those who are against it. The following are the points to validate it

Ø  The human nature and the society influence the outcome.

Ø  When even killing-self isn’t allowed, how can Death Penalty be exercised on others?

Ø  I suppose, Death Penalty ain’t a greater punishment after all.

Now, I am elucidating my points one by one:

Universally, man is called out as a ‘social animal’, who is capable of becoming drastically wild. Wildness never stays in with him. It erupts out as a volcano in a mountain, destroying out its place as well as everything within its perimeter, badly. Man in general believed him to be an animal, but personified it with the word “SOCIAL”, posturing himself respectable and adorable. He makes himself as a much civilized creature with his appearance and but his deeds work out the other way, most of the time. This means the uncivilized part of this living thing pops out very often to the surprise of every one.

In general – ‘What does an animal do? Do all animals remain good to us? Are they being hanged for not being so? Are they punished at least for not being so?’

We convince ourselves saying that “Their nature is so, and what else could be expected from these ‘Five Sensed creatures’ ”, alongside we prompt “the situation makes it to act so”. Like wise, A Human Being too address to situations which make him wild or break his civilized mould. What better can he do rather than exactly reacting to them; can even be a heinous crime? Be it Homicide or Robbery or Adultery even, they are almost a cause out of a situation.

“If people are to be sentenced to death for taking out the life of others, there would be a few left out in this world, since the Butchers as well as we, the Buyers from him will also be sentenced”.

Taking robbery or theft into account, there are situations during which the committers of the crime are sentenced to death or even encountered down. Most of the politicians are swindling out the tax payers money, a day light robbery in fact, are mostly ignored off or forgotten. “In which way you can call it a just, the encounter of the bank robbers in Chennai when the people having disproportionate wealth, taking bribe and mishandling of public money are left to walk free, by our brazen society? Moreover do we pay our tax to fatten the purse of these politicians, who do nothing to develop this society and the people in it? Why aren’t these characters hanged for this?”

Even killing self isn’t allowed:

We have come across many instances where our supreme authorities of law have been denying people those who plead for killing self- case of euthanasia. The cause of euthanasia is nothing but no more hope on living due to some kind of frustration, where the reason for frustration being a plenty. The same apex bodies of law those deny the people from killing self; read out a verdict on a criminal accused to have committed some crime or the other, even at times hanging him down.

I wonder how these things are possible, “when euthanasia is discouraged, in what way it holds good in sentencing a person to death, when he has the desire to live reformed?”

“What if, the person sentenced with death, is actually clean and right?" – Just think on it folks. Life lost in such a way can never be brought back, even when repented.

Death Penalty ain’t a greater punishment:

“Does sentencing one to death will make a stop to all or will pacify the sufferer?” May be people think so, because they would have been at the receivers end of the crime committed. When the criminal gets sentenced, is it going to undo the effect or impact that has happened?

Death Penalty is never the greatest punishment after all or the end of road for everything. It is a situation of irony, naming it to be “A Great Social Revenge” aka “Revenge gone public”. In a general view of this topic, the accused will be looked upon as ‘a poor meat’ being preyed upon by the whole society. This makes him a creature to be pitied upon. Moreover, his occurrence of death being instantaneous, he never shall know the actual suffering of this world. This is so because the culprit, evades the part of life, wherein he will be portrayed more shabbily than ever by the society post his activity of crime, i.e. if he would have committed a homicide he will be cried out a murderer thereafter; like wise it will be, if he would have robbed or cheated or raped etc.

“Does he require a more stiff punishment than this? Does the Penalty get everything committed by him undone?”

Besides all this, we must be clear within oneself that taking away life is a second’s task but bringing back the same life can never be done.

And this is how I feel whenever this topic becomes a highly discussed one and much debated out.

I have felt it more personally, the attitude of our fellow country men or women has seen a sea change, now a days. 

Ours is a country with mixed emotions flowing out, where the fight to avert the sentence of death read on Rajiv Gandhi assassins is still on; the same land has been feeding Ajmal Kasab with things he wouldn’t have imagined in his life at all, with a life of utmost luxury and similarly, we do red carpet an accused who still has a case imminent on him, as he has become the person of importance in the ministry of a neighbouring country (Douglas Devanand).

So gone are the days, which flaunted “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”, as we are aware that making out such things will only make the entire world, a blind one ever!

These are not the vibes within our one country, but is now-a-days persistent across the world, with some countries having taken initiatives to abolish “Death Penalty” once for all and some of them already at the final stages of doing it so. It’s clear the voice against such a cruel act on human is getting louder and louder, as the days go on, as there has been a perfect realization on the value of Human Life.

Below are some of the sayings of the famous personalities, against this uncivilized act:

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”

- Mahatma Gandhi

"What you do to these men [on death row], you do to God."
- Mother Teresa.

"I am completely against any form of violence...And in the case of the death penalty we are actually faced with killing that is decided and carried out by a country's justice system. I think this quite immoral and wrong."
- Tenzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama).

"[the death penalty] is both cruel and unnecessary", "...the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil."
Pope John Paul II - former leader of the Catholic Church.

To conclude upon,

The Death Penalty is to be completely eradicated, as it does bring no good to a society or an individual. The best thing I deduce is that the convict is to be given a chance to repent upon and reform, as he might be influenced, instigated or motivated falsely by elements for their intentions and at times his personal life could have played a major part in this, bringing out the bad in oneself to the exposure of the society. The Death Penalty at times goes on a person who has not involved in any outrageous act at all.

Death Penalty never brings in harmony or brotherhood, but only hatred and distress.

References:

1)      “Lethal Lottery: The Death Penalty in India, A study of Supreme Court judgments in death penalty cases1950-2006.” http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/info/ASA20/007/2008

2)      “Amnesty International Annual Report” 2008 http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage ]

3)      http://www.squidoo.com/abolishthedeathpenalty

Hemalatha, N. N

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