Time To Be Civilized And Compassionate

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 2 December 2023 Haq Hai Har Shakhs Ka Zindagi Par Jyon Haq Hai Har Kisi Ka Bandagi Par Insaaf Ke Naam Pe Saza-E-Maut Do Sharm Aati Hai Insaan Ki Darindagi Par 'Nashtar ' Nishapuri (Every individual is entitled to life/ The way everyone is free to worship/ Capital punishment in the name of justice/ I'm ashamed of the savagery of humans) The demand for abolishing the death penalty got a fresh impetus on Wednesday, November 22, when most lawyers present at a Supreme Court hearing on reducing instances of capital punishment wanted the provision to go. Their stand aligns with the growing worldwide support for its abolition. Close to three-quarters of the world has abolished it (courtesy, ET, November 26, Hang on, rethink the death penalty https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-editorial/hang-on-rethink-the-death-penalty/articleshow/105518327.cms). Much has been written and debated in favour of the abolition of death rap over the years. Now is time for India to dispense with it to be called a civilized country. Less than a year ago, CJI questioned the validity of hanging. Now the SC lawyers are also of the view that it must be abolished. Any mode of execution, be it hanging, firing squad, beheading (zenith of barbarism), electric chair, lethal injection or poisoning, will continue to be questioned not because of more or less pain inflicted upon the convicts, but for moral reasons that have far and wide ramifications. Granted, a person has committed a heinous crime and killed someone. Executing him for that cannot be called justice. It's retribution, validated by the State and the Judiciary. Moreover, the logic of 'the rarest of the rare' principle is so subjective, obscure and baffling. Many a time, those who're resourceful and can hire big lawyers, cheat the gallows and poor people are sent to the scaffold. "Zindagi Ne Jeete Ji Ki Na Koi Raham/ Aayee Maut Toh Woh Bhi Iss Qadar Beraham" (While living, life remained so harsh and unkind/ Alas, when death arrived, it was also macabre). Urdu poet Justice Anand Narayan Mulla wrote this couplet when a very poor convict was hanged at Naini prison near Allahabad. He was a judge of Allahabad High Court at that time. If you observe the list of the 62 executed convicts beginning from Nathuram Godse and N D Apte (November 15, 1949) at Ambala Central Jail to the four convicts, of Nirbhaya rape and murder case, hanged at Tihar in Delhi on March 20, 2020, you'll be surprised that most of the executed convicts were really poor. Two brothers Kartar Singh and Ujagar Singh, the hired killers who were hanged at Tihar, for killing the famous eye-surgeon Dr Jain's wife, committed the crime for 500 rupees! Both never got a decent lawyer to fight for them. That's the reason, capital punishment is all the more reprehensible and lopsided. A civilized society has no place for this type of judicial murder. Are we voyeurs, getting some kind of orgasmic kick out of an execution of an individual? Do away with it forthwith. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/civilized-compassionate/d/131242 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism