To Kill or Not to Kill

To kill or not to kill, that is the question. It is a centuries old debate, with every new generation having a different opinion. So, should the death penalty be abolished or not? Should executions be banned? Should life imprisonments be the maximum/highest punishment awarded to criminals? There are two sides to every coin and it is likely that many of you will disagree with me here. That's fine. Leave your views below and maybe we could have a healthy debate. Read on...

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"It is by exacting the highest penalty for the taking of human life that we affirm the highest value of human life." 

- Edward Koch 

There has been much controversy over capital punishment since ancient times, and it still remains a ‘hot’ and controversial topic. Should a person who has committed a heinous crime be sentenced to death, or imprisoned for life? In my opinion, I feel that retaining the death penalty is definitely a better choice than abolishing it.

Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, clearly segregates the two highest forms of punishments: Death by hanging, and Life Imprisonment. According to the IPC, the ‘rarest of the rare’ cases are to be awarded with capital punishment only. Thus it is clear that even the makers of our Constitution felt that the death penalty should be present to weed out the muck from society.

Though many would feel otherwise, there are a number of reasons why capital punishment is a good option. The first and most obvious reason is deterrence. Deterrence is the belief that society can stop crime by making punishment more severe than the benefits gained from criminal acts. There are two advantages of this – one, by executing a hardened criminal, you prevent him from committing a similar crime in future. Executing a person is the ultimate form of incapacitation. He can no longer prey on innocent citizens, victimize other inmates, or escape. Many argue that killing dangerous, violent offenders ensures that they will not harm others in future.

The other, is that it acts as an example to society at large, and to future offenders. If they realize that the government will act swiftly and execute them, they will probably think twice before committing dreadful crimes. It brings about law and order by instilling fear into the minds of criminals. Thus, a death sentence is a far more effective deterrent than life imprisonment.

Then there is the angle of security. If a criminal is imprisoned and put into prison, the situation opens up a whole new can of worms. The tight security inconveniences those who live in and around the prison to a great extent. Take the infamous case of Ajmal Amir Kasab. He has been lodged at the Arthur Road Prison for more than two years now. The constant security cordons and naakabandi by the police is a real nightmare for residents of the area, who cannot even park their vehicles in their own buildings and are subject to scrutiny by the police every minute.

It is also a great security hazard to keep a known terrorist in prison, as he can operate from jail and smuggle out information to his colleagues. Also, his colleagues may try to free him from captivity, thereby putting the entire nation at risk. So, to protect the sovereignty of the country, it is imperative to kill these criminals as soon as possible.

We all know about the Kandahar hijack by the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1999. The terrorists hijacked a plane from Kathmandu to Delhi, and the hostages were set free only after the government gave in to the jihadists’ demands and handed over three militants, one of them Maulana Masood Azhar, who founded the deadly Jaish-e-Mohammed and later masterminded the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that resulted in the death of thousands of harmless citizens. If the government had acted in a timely fashion and executed him, this problem would not have arisen.

Another reason in support of death penalty is cost. It takes a great deal of money to maintain a criminal in jail. Let us once again take the case of Kasab. Crores of our taxpayer’s money is being pumped into Kasab’s upkeep. We provided him with a lawyer so that he could be fairly tried. He is kept in a high security prison where he has a designated food taster. He is, without a doubt, safer than most people on the streets today. Another example is Afzal Guru, the terrorist who was convicted in the dastardly attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, and who is still languishing in jail. This money could instead be used to develop and rehabilitate so many homeless people.

Another very popular and intuitive reason in support of the death penalty is retribution. Many people confuse retribution with revenge but the two are very different. Revenge is the act of paying back someone because of some personal vendetta, whereas retribution is punishment that is deserved and appropriate to the crime committed.

This ideology of retribution is founded on the principle of lex talionis, i.e. the wrong-doer must not only be punished, but the punishment should be proportionate to his crime. It would appear as if the Bible itself supports capital punishment. It states, “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man causes a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth ... .”

In a society frustrated with criminality, there has been an upsurge of support for the death penalty due to reasons of justice. Support under this ideology is based on punitive reasons. If someone takes a life, it is only obvious that he should be told to give up his life in exchange. Even in literature, the villain always gets his ‘just desserts’, whether it is Shylock in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Cassius in ‘Julius Caesar’, or Gabbar in ‘Sholay’.

Art is nothing but a reflection of society, and hence it is fair to put to death a criminal who has taken scores of lives and has no regret at all. In my opinion, even the mere thought of debating Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan (Rajiv Gandhi’s killers) and Afzal Guru’s clemency plea in Parliament is revolting. They say a man is innocent till proven guilty, but in the case of the above, there is overwhelming evidence of their atrocious crimes and massacres. Why then, are they not being executed? The answer eludes me.

The philosophy of retribution also gives a sense of closure to the victim’s family; and relieves, if not lessens, their anger and hurt. Alexander Pope said, to err is human, to forgive divine. But even though we are human, those who commit such gruesome crimes are more animal than human and need to be treated differently from others. Those who do not bat an eyelid, but instead savour the torture and helplessness of others, deserve no mercy or forgiveness. The only punishment for them should be death. There no second chances for the victim, why then should the murderer deserve the same?

Some might feel that a person who has taken a life can and will reform. Well, the truth does not confirm this theory. For every twenty-four hours, there are six more murders to be investigated. On an average, that is one for every four hours.

Let us take the case of a famous American serial killer Robert Hansen, who was accused of killing at least seventeen prostitutes with either a hunting knife or a rifle, after he had paid for their services. When he was asked about his motive for murder he said, “I hate women because they always stand aloof from me only for my awful appearance; they should pay for their rudeness and their depreciation toward me.” He was arrested and spent one year out of his designated five in prison. Just a few weeks after his early release, he killed again.

Another example occurred in Korea. In 2004, Yung-Che Liu was arrested for killing more than twenty harmless massagists, especially rich old men. Before the court, he expressed, “If I was not caught, I would keep killing more people.” Thus, we can see that it is very rare for a criminal to reform. Having killed once, serial killers and rapists will continue to kill and harm others in society.

Many feel that if the death penalty is enforced, a few innocent people may also be wrongfully declared guilty. The solution to this is vigilance, and the judicial process to be followed before administering capital punishment will have to establish guilt and circumstances beyond any reasonable doubt. In fact, by administering this laborious process, it is also possible that many guilty will be let off, but that is a risk we have to be ready to take.

Detractors of capital punishment argue that taking the life of anyone, even a criminal, is morally incorrect. Many human rights activists feel that we, as humans, have no right to take away the life given to us by God. But then again, what right did the criminals have to take the life of others? Shouldn’t the rule apply to them as well? What ‘moral code’ is being followed in atrocious, cold-blooded and pre-planned crimes like rape, murder, dowry deaths, fake encounters and hired killings? Others feel that there is uncertainty over this ‘moral question’, but then if the state ceases to act, or takes ages to act each time there is moral ambiguity, there would be chaos.

Thus, we can say that emotional retribution, emotional opposition, morality, and law and order, are the main reasons in favour of retaining the death penalty. Maybe that is why almost fifty-eight countries in the world retain it even today. If we abolish the death penalty, it seems that we indirectly encourage people to kill others because they need not pay for what they have done except by some slight punishment, i.e. going to jail for a while, or doing community service.

Just about a month ago, Supreme Court judges Justices Markandey Katju and C K Prasad - while upholding the death penalty of one Ajitsingh Harnamsingh Gujral, who had allegedly fought with his wife and then poured gallons of oil on his family of four and set them on fire in 2003 – remarked that death penalty in the ‘rarest of rare’ cases is acceptable.

Commenting on this case, Justice Katju said, “In our opinion, this is one such case. (rarest of rare) Burning living persons to death is a horrible act which causes excruciating pain to the victim, and this could not have been unknown to Gujral. A person like Gujral… cannot be reformed or rehabilitated. The balance sheet is heavily loaded against him and accordingly, we uphold the death sentence awarded to him.”

Capital punishment cannot be studied in isolation. Each case is different, each has diverse and sometimes even unique circumstances, so you really cannot club everything under one umbrella and generalise. However, there are definitely some very valid points in favour of the death penalty.

I would like to finally end with a quote from the Babylonian legal code of the 18th Century B.C. called the Code of Hammurabi. It suggests the earliest evidence of favouring the death penalty. “If a man puts out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. If he breaks another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken...”

Thus, after looking at all the arguments, it only reaffirms my belief that capital punishment should be retained for the greater good of society at large.

Waiting To Go Home

            The woman sits there, eyes downward, lips muttering a prayer. She seems oblivious to the footsteps around her or the nervous tensions. She cares nothing for the women discussing the new born baby of their friend. She just sits there, waiting, watching, hoping…

            Her husband should be out soon, she knows it. It’s just a minor surgery, no more than a few hours. And it was just three days back that he had been admitted.

            Hustling and bustling, clattering and clanking, hushed voices, noisy children, urgent cries; she absorbs it all. Nothing seems more morbid, however, than the fact that her husband will not live to see another day.

            Hush! Silly thing to be afraid of. He will be just fine. Just fine. Just fine…

            7, 8, 9, the hours pass by. The crowds thin, the voices become less urgent, the noisy children vanish. And yet she sits there, staring into empty space, remembering…

            A kind-looking face taps her shoulder. She seems to say something the woman can’t understand. How can she possibly go home, knowing full well that her husband is here? She thinks the woman is senile and just smiles at her. She should remember to tell Fred to lend her some money. After he is discharged of course. Which shouldn’t take too long, now that you think of it.

            Some more people approach her, all with compassionate faces, showing bewilderment and tension. They tell her to go home, but she refuses to budge. She will only leave with Fred, no more and no less.

            What is this they say? No, no they must have mistaken her for someone else. “I’m Mrs. Smith”, she says. They repeat. But that’s impossible. She met Fred just a few hours ago. Where can he disappear to?

            She brushes aside the ‘well-wishers’ and hurries on, searching for Room 401. She would find him lying on the bed and then explain to them, make them see that her husband will soon be discharged.

            401 is locked. Oh bother! They must have taken him for some tests. No problem, she would wait patiently. Wait for however long it takes for Fred to come.

*******

             Finally the ‘well-wishers’ give up. They shrug and let the woman wander around and play with her hallucinations. Fred Smith was buried two weeks ago and he could not rise from the dead.

*******

             She finds a bench and sits and prays again. Let my Fred be discharged soon. Jesus! Watch over my Fred.

            As the stars carpet the inky-blue night sky, she goes to sleep with a prayer on her lips, sitting on the pew in the hospital chapel, waiting for her Fred to get discharged, so that they could go home to a nice, hot dinner of boiled potatoes and rice; and lie beside each other on the soft bed; to greet a new, happy day together; where there will be a new, healed Fred.

            Only a matter of time now. She will see her Fred soon…

Hope

Hope. The opposite of despair. An emotion that is probably most taken for granted, and yet one that is the basis of our very survival. Whether you call it Hoffnung in German, esperanza in Spanish, or aasha in Hindi, it is still that feeling of deep and instinctual anticipation that we all feel, at every stage of our lives...
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Hope – a four letter word that, according to me, sustains human beings on this planet. Hope is what makes the unbearable bearable, and what illuminates the blackest of nights.

Hope is the tiny flicker of light that a man in a dark cave gropes for, it is the faint heart-beat that the mother of a stillborn child craves for, and it is even the red blot that the child who has failed by one mark is desperate to avoid seeing.

Human beings cling onto hope even when everything else seems lost. Hope is a way of comfort for many. It bolsters their strength by sheltering them in a cocoon of blissful limbo. It prevents them from breaking down and losing their sanity.

Whether you call it craving, longing, yearning or desire – ultimately, it is all hope. And it is this hope that helps us to live each day resiliently and courageously.

A person who has loved and lost, lives with the hope that the new day will bring with it new love; a person paralysed waist-down yearns for the morrow that will allow her to walk, even if it is with support.

Can you imagine a life devoid of hope? What if the man in the dark, airless cave loses hope? What if he is convinced that he is going to die in darkness?

In that case, he will not even try to venture towards freedom, and will definitely die. Whereas hope, even temporary, may at least inspire him to reach out towards the goal – his freedom.

But hope has its imperfections too. How long can you continue hoping? How long can you have faith in that little voice deep inside you that says “Everything will be alright”? The feeling of dread, emptiness and trepidation is bound to come back to haunt you sooner or later.

Think about a woman whose husband has disappeared at sea. How long can she wait for him? How long can she continue to hope that he will come back? One fateful day, she will have to give up and accept that he really is gone, and get on with her life.

And when this tiny thread of hope snaps and the flame of faith is extinguished, it is then that you are most vulnerable.

It seems as if the plank of wood that you were desperately holding onto, to stay alive and afloat, has broken into two, dragging you deeper and deeper into the murky waters of stark reality.

No one expresses it more beautifully and poignantly than Rabindranath Tagore in his story, ‘The Postmaster’ –

            “O poor, unthinking human heart! Error will not go away; logic and reason are slow to penetrate. We cling with both arms to false hope, refusing to believe in the weightiest proofs against it, embracing it with all our strength. In the end it escapes, ripping our veins and draining our heart’s blood; until regaining consciousness, we rush to fall into snares of delusion all over again."

Losing Someone You Love

Love. One of the most beautiful complexities of life for sure! That initial feeling of euphoria, the blissful courtship phase, the mature laid-back phase, the (maybe) taking-for-granted phase and the final break-up phase, easily the hardest... 

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The scars that you can’t see are the hardest to heal…

- Anonymous

Have you ever lost someone you love - be it in a relationship, in an accident, or in death?

Losing someone – a dear friend to a misunderstanding, or a loved one in a relationship – is as painful as losing someone to death; the only difference being that you cannot recall the dead, so you ultimately resign yourself to the inevitable. But in a break-up or misunderstanding between friends, you always cling to the false hope that everything will be as rosy as before.

Memories of the happy times in the relationship keep haunting your every waking hour. Familiar places and landmarks bring tears to your eyes, as you try, day after day, to lead a normal life.

But the pain that engulfs your entire being is something you can only experience first hand. Even the finest counsellor cannot prepare you for the feeling of complete and utter hopelessness that flows through the blood and in your veins.

You keep blaming yourself for the failed relationship, and keep wishing that everything was as beautiful as earlier.

Happy memories bring more sadness than happiness, more tears than laughter. Every little word of love that was professed from your partner or friend’s lips now seems like a poison that spreads to all your organs, slowly torturing you and ultimately sapping out the light from your life.

The days seem long, and the nights cruel. You cry yourself to sleep, wishing you could confide in the very person who broke your heart, to show him / her that you still care, that you still need them. Knowing that they are far way, not knowing how you feel, probably not even thinking about you, hurts more than the parting ever did.

Your days are a haze of lights, and a rush of voices. You walk around isolated – nursing your broken, wounded heart, dying a hundred deaths, and wishing that the pain would stop.

And then you look at the world like a President does through the bullet-proof glass window of his limousine – sheltering yourself from the hurt and the pain - yet longing to go out, be one with the world and not remain shackled to the four walls of confinement.

Kind, sympathetic words only make you more vulnerable. Sayings like “It is for the best” bring more anger than comfort, and words like “Be brave”, though true, sound too philosophical. Bouts of anger are often followed by buckets of tears.

And just when you think that you will be alright, you see two lovers walking hand-in-hand, or two friends laughing, joking and making merry. And the pain bursts forth like before, weakening your new-found resolve, shattering your peace of mind and draining you of the little happiness you had found in that short span of time.

But like they say, there is always a rainbow after the rains. And Time is a great healer. Though Time cannot completely heal the scars, it can make them considerably lighter.

Involving yourself in your daily routine, listening to healing music, and confiding in a friend or grown-up makes the journey to the other side easier and less painful.

If you can learn from your past failures without any bitterness or spite for the one who broke your heart, then it is worth all that you have gone through. For then, you have grown into a more tolerant, mature, stronger and wiser person.

And finally the day will arrive when you will be able to look back at the memories as a learning experience, and smile instead of cry. You will be able to thank God for giving you all those wonderful moments to share with that ‘special someone’.

And that is the day when you have learnt to let go. You have freed yourself and the other from the fetters of sorrow and confinement. You feel free, liberated and whole.

It is moments and memories like these which make life the beautiful journey that it truly is. For, unless you experience the rain, how can you enjoy the sunshine?

                                                

Welcome Aboard!

When I went into the field of Journalism and Mass Communication, the first thing everyone would ask me is, "Do you blog?" And when I would reply in the negative, they would greet me with lots of incredulity!

So why didn't I blog before? Was it an aversion to the internet? Definitely not! Was it lack of time or inclination? Well, not exactly. What then?

The entire answer eludes me even today. Though the fact that I'm a very private person was probably one of the major reasons. I like to write for myself. It gives me peace and happiness and opens doors of enlightenment. I was, however, a little wary of showing the world my writings.

Being an avid reader, there have been many books that have touched my heart, made me ponder and think of life differently. If not for their immense guidance, life would have been very different. If I have the opportunity to avail of other people's writings, it is only fair that others find identification and comfort from my musings.

Thus, the decision to start a blog.

As to the name? I am always bursting with new ideas and rambling and thinking of things to write about...

So welcome aboard, and I hope you find as much joy in reading my blog as I will in writing!