Date:12/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111253891003.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Death penalty

The initiative of over 70 countries for a United Nations General Assembly resolution on declaring a moratorium on executions will surely set the stage for the abolition of the death penalty across the world (editorial “A world without executions,” Nov. 10). The death penalty, once viewed as a matter of domestic policy, is now seen as a global human rights issue.

Capital punishment is a barbaric and vindictive act that violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. Execution leaves no chance to set right a wrong verdict. The UNGA resolution will be an important international milestone in the campaign to abolish the death penalty. India, the largest democracy, should abolish it accelerating the worldwide trend towards ending executions.

T. Marx,

Karaikal

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India should, in fact, have been a trendsetter in the endeavour to end executions as it was the first country to propound the great doctrine of ahimsa. The right to life is absolute. Retributive justice belongs to the bygone age and the canon, eye-for-an-eye, is no longer relevant. For a nation that provides safeguards for prisoners placed in solitary confinement to hold this horrendous penalty in its law book — even in the ‘rarest of rare’ cases — is inappropriate.

P. George Daniel,

Kochi

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The abolition of capital punishment, in my view, will lead to an increase in the number of heinous crimes. The death sentence is a deterrent. Doing away with it is akin to unleashing a thousand wolves on unsuspecting flocks of sheep.

Nandlal K. Pancholi,

Gotan, Rajasthan

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Many nations feel that under no circumstances should the death penalty be awarded. This view is shared by many people who argue that god alone has the right to take away life. It is all very well to talk in a philosophical and idealistic tone. But one should listen to the woes of the near and dear of the victims to understand their anguish — particularly in the instances where the victims of murder for gain and gang rape are minors. The fear of death alone can have a deterrent effect on criminals who have scant regard for human lives. Capital punishment should not be abolished. The state should use it only in extreme cases.

Pratap Gokuldas,

Coimbatore