Undoubtedly more Chinese die on death row then rest of the world put together.
The total number of countries carrying out executions has fallen from 40 to 25 in a decade, and 129 countries are abolitionist in practice. India and America are two of only five democracies still to use the death penalty.
source
Since a law should adhere to the evolving standards of humanity, Why do we still practice hanging?
1) how much faith do u have in the forensic and police…. what is the probability that they have fudged the evidence. I know a thousand of innocent people were booked under TADA/POTA and wasted years without trial… Would you like an innocent guy to be hanged?
2) even if the guy has committed the crime isn’t it ok if you stash him away in a solitary confinement for 20 years… long enough that he never sees the sunlight again in his youth? If we cannot create life, we have no right to take one.
@Vinaya…
thats exactly what i am trying to say…. 129 have banned it… and of the countries where it is still practiced, only 5 are democracies… so thats what the majority is…
regarding what the affected people say… trust me I am so hot blooded person that i would kill the guy who even put a harmless dent on my car…. but that does not mean careless drivers should be hanged.
Comment by pegasus — May 1, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
Capital Punishment as I have argued before is useless and should be done away with. Vinaya has already provided the link to the post.
As Apun Ka Desh said, it is revenge mentality. No matter how you look at it, CP is not justified.
It is hardly a bigger deterrent than Life Imprisonment. I think LI could be a bigger deterrent than CP. As pegasus already said, deterrence comes from maintaining law and order and not by having inhuman punishments.
CP once executed cannot be reverted no matter what amount of evidence is unearthed later to prove the convicted as innocent. I think no judicial system in the world is infallible. No matter how perfect one thinks it is.
@Vinaya,
Polling the victims family is useless and undesirable. As pegasus said, he will kill anybody who puts a dent in his car. A man will kill anybody who steals his important documents. If all these decisions were left to the whims of the victims there will be no need for law. The victim may decide what quantum of punishment is sufficient. That will be totally chaotic. Policies and laws are not based on emotions but on sound reasoning.
The out going CJI said he was against CP but as long as it exists in the law book it can be awarded. Too bad such people do not speak out when they hold important positions.
Comment by Polite Indian — May 1, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
Dear Pegasus,
I am not sure, if majority will buy your reasoning until enforced. Until then keep trying…my wishes with you. Also, I would like to recommend you to read Quran that why it recommends eye for an eye, and you may need hard work to change hearts of millions.
Also, rather than wasting energy in India, would be better to civilize most uncivilized countries.
Best of luck,
Vinaya
Comment by Vinaya Singh — May 1, 2007 @ 11:38 pm
@polite
yups its one of the things that has been there in the fabric of culture for so long.. that people just cannot think how much harm it can do…
esp when a lot of forensic are fudged and police can be bought.
i did not knew Chief Justice of India went on record about his views on Capital punishment… but ya a lot of civilized judges also feel the same.
Comment by pegasus — May 1, 2007 @ 11:42 pm
@vinaya
// and you may need hard work to change hearts of millions.//
//Also, rather than wasting energy in India, would be better to civilize most uncivilized countries. //
I am a Indian and it is the only country I am worried about…. and the thoughts section of the blog is dedicated with the only one purpose.. spread awareness. esp. on issues which effect us, but we choose to ignore.
//I am not sure, if majority will buy your reasoning until enforced.//
i gave u the statistics from the civilized world… what else do u want sir?
//Also, I would like to recommend you to read Quran that why it recommends eye for an eye,//
1) as I already said “law should adhere to the evolving standards of humanity”
Quaran was one of the first noble attempts of mankind to consolidate all laws… but when was it last updated?
2) Hindu, Muslim or any other religion… capital punishment is only for criminal offense… and under the preview of IPC only.
and even a 100 years ago it had the words
“only in the rarest of the rare conditions… cp be awarded”,
“even if a 100 guilty go free, not even 1 innocent should be punished”
and in USA alone, modern forensic techniques have bestowed honor back to over 50 convicts who were wrongly executed.
if it can happen in America, it can definitely happen in India too..
now isn’t CP against the very spirit of out court?
Comment by pegasus — May 1, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
In favor of CP abolishion: 7
In favor of CP: 10
(Data collected from Pegasus and Polite India sites)
Comment by Vinaya Singh — May 2, 2007 @ 12:49 am
@vinaya…
i was saying on some other thread:
“I know only 4 of my readers true identity”
and of them 3 are Tamil… so 75% of my readers are Tamil.”
the point is:
Isn’t drawing conclusion based on an audience size of 17 is as big a sin as analyzing SMS POLL results?
Comment by pegasus — May 2, 2007 @ 1:14 am
Dear Pegasus,
This was just an example. There are many sites where majority is in favor of CP. Also, there was opinion where 90% wants Afjal to hang and 10% no. There may be emotions too but definitely the Indian community wants CP for terrorism.
Thanks & Regards,
Vinaya
Comment by Vinaya Singh — May 2, 2007 @ 4:51 am
“India and America are two of only five democracies still to use the death penalty.”
And with this statement all the bleeding hearts out there go into spasms of self-abnegation,
Have a look at the graph again.
America executed 50 odd people in 2006 and how many has India executed in the same year?
Not even the thug who facilitated the terrorist attack at the very heart of the Indian state.
Not even a underworld don who is involved in the murder of hundreds of innocent people in 1993. Infact he even contested the UP assembly polls this time.
That is why India is in the shithole it is and America is the superpower it is. America knows when, where and how to clean its gutter elements.
Comment by Apollo — May 7, 2007 @ 9:21 pm
@apollo….
i agree that india has the slowest justice system in the planet…. and that is where our problem lies….
the reason why i am against capital punishment is because we have policemen who love to shoot random people just to get laurels… and then they go to any lengths to cover their tracks…
how can u execute someone based on the data collected from them?
Comment by pegasus — May 7, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
Well we need to spruce up our justice system to make it work faster and also make the investigating agencies free of control by politicians. That might improve the scenario.But the point is in India the trend has been to give the death penalty only in the rarest of rare cases even though it remains on the statute books. I think that’s better way to go about things than to get into emotional debates about the death penalty issue.
Comment by Apollo — May 9, 2007 @ 7:59 pm
[...] change in law will only increase the victim’s agony. 3. Usual crap against the very idea of death penalty esp. does state or anybody have a right to take someone else’s [...]
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