So the other day i was skimming through the newspaper when a particular headline caught my eye. It was regarding the execution of the death row convicts involved in the assassination of India's former Prime Mister, Rajiv Gandhi. The article went on to say that after they were sentenced to death in Jan.1998 they sent a petition to review their case. These petitions were dismissed and the convicts sent clemency petitions to the governor which too were dismissed. Eventually in the year 2000, they sent a petition to the President, asking for a presidential pardon. Eleven years after this request was sent and twenty years after the crime was actually committed, these petitions were rejected in the first week of this month and the three convicts are scheduled to be hanged on the ninth of September.
My initial reaction on reading this article was why did it take eleven years for the request for the presidential pardon to be denied. They are convicts who killed many people and injured more. They deserve to die. But them i thought about it again and changed my original decision. I realized that the death sentence is barbaric and wrong. This sudden change in heart was due to the following reasons.
I realized that the main aim of the punishing body should be to reform criminals and not kill them. This will only come by self realization and life imprisonment will provide a criminal much time to think of his actions.
My second argument is that I really don't think that the death penalty provides much solace to the family and friends of the victim. Mahatma Gandhi said that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.In the light of this we can say that the blood of the convicts will be on the hands of the family of the victim who pressed for the charges. After the prosecution is carried out I'm not sure if they will be at peace or will feel guilty, not for the convicts but their families (as they themselves know what it is like to loose someone close to you). I think that the death penalty is basically for the enjoyment of the third party.
Right, so third point. The passing of the death penalty as we have seen in takes a long time, usually more than ten years (in this case twenty years) to pass. This also requires much money. My question is is - is it actually worth spending these large sums of money on criminals, when a much quicker and cheaper option in the form of life imprisonment is also present. As i mentioned earlier life imprisonment will also give these men a chance to reform.
My last point is that even if all the evidence points to a certain person, one can never completely be sure that it was that person who committed the crime. There was a movie, I forget the name, in which there was a group fighting for the abolition of capital punishment. Suddenly one member of this group was killed and all the evidence pointed to a man. So this man was sentenced and killed. It wasn't till after that the execution was carried out that this team working for the abolition of the death penalty revealed that the lady had killed herself and the lady along with the convicted man had planned it such that all the evidence pointed towards the man. this brings me back to the point that one can never be sure and it is not right to take an individuals life unless you are absolutely sure (which as pointed out, in most cases is not possible).
So after going through all these points in my head, I realized that the death penalty is wrong. Tell me what you think of the death penalty. There is a poll question addressing this matter. Be sure to answer that and while you're at that hit the follow button....
My initial reaction on reading this article was why did it take eleven years for the request for the presidential pardon to be denied. They are convicts who killed many people and injured more. They deserve to die. But them i thought about it again and changed my original decision. I realized that the death sentence is barbaric and wrong. This sudden change in heart was due to the following reasons.
I realized that the main aim of the punishing body should be to reform criminals and not kill them. This will only come by self realization and life imprisonment will provide a criminal much time to think of his actions.
My second argument is that I really don't think that the death penalty provides much solace to the family and friends of the victim. Mahatma Gandhi said that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.In the light of this we can say that the blood of the convicts will be on the hands of the family of the victim who pressed for the charges. After the prosecution is carried out I'm not sure if they will be at peace or will feel guilty, not for the convicts but their families (as they themselves know what it is like to loose someone close to you). I think that the death penalty is basically for the enjoyment of the third party.
Right, so third point. The passing of the death penalty as we have seen in takes a long time, usually more than ten years (in this case twenty years) to pass. This also requires much money. My question is is - is it actually worth spending these large sums of money on criminals, when a much quicker and cheaper option in the form of life imprisonment is also present. As i mentioned earlier life imprisonment will also give these men a chance to reform.
My last point is that even if all the evidence points to a certain person, one can never completely be sure that it was that person who committed the crime. There was a movie, I forget the name, in which there was a group fighting for the abolition of capital punishment. Suddenly one member of this group was killed and all the evidence pointed to a man. So this man was sentenced and killed. It wasn't till after that the execution was carried out that this team working for the abolition of the death penalty revealed that the lady had killed herself and the lady along with the convicted man had planned it such that all the evidence pointed towards the man. this brings me back to the point that one can never be sure and it is not right to take an individuals life unless you are absolutely sure (which as pointed out, in most cases is not possible).
So after going through all these points in my head, I realized that the death penalty is wrong. Tell me what you think of the death penalty. There is a poll question addressing this matter. Be sure to answer that and while you're at that hit the follow button....
You scare me- you have very contradicting opinions. In school last year when we had the debate on 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind', you were all for capital punishment. You kept telling me that 'what goes around comes around', remember? Do you have multiple personality disorder or something? o_O
ReplyDeletehat was a year back and then i didnt think it through fully in my head. Even here i said that my initial reaction was why they havent been hung sooner...
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