India was one of the few countries that resumed executions in 2012. India's stand on the death penalty issue is worrying since it necessarily means we are an intolerant and brutal society.
If one were to go just by the sheer numbers documented in the annual Amnesty International report on death penalty that was released last week, prima facie it would seem there is not much to write about India. Prima facie, of course.
Amnesty is right in noting that there has been overall progress in the global trend towards ending the death penalty (PDF file). This is where India comes in, because the country has bucked the trend. India not only carried out its first execution since 2004, but also awarded death sentences in 78 cases. More than 400 individuals remained on death row till the end of 2012.
There are far
too many points in favour of the argument why the death penalty needs to go, but the concerns today lie elsewhere.
First, the very fact that India has shown scant regard for global trends is a cause for distress. India, after all, has repeatedly voted in the United Nations General Assembly against a moratorium on executions. And this has had little to do with which party has been ruling at the Centre. When the Executive and the Legislative don’t lead the way, the country can hardly progress.
Second, we live in times where it’s all about a collective blood lust. A barbaric act brings out the bestial best in people. Outrages are often sanguinary in nature. So, it seems that in order to tackle criminals, we must behave in as much a gruesome manner as criminals do. It seems that in order to prove that killing is bad, we need to kill another person to drive home the point. Little wonder that we live in such a dehumanised society. In other words, it’s one that apparently attains salvation through killings. Justice takes a backseat, vengeful emotions run riot.
Source: DNA, Subir Ghosh, April 14, 2013
