Of Death Penalty And A Brutal Society

~~Subir Ghosh

KILLIING BY THE STATE: Hundreds of protesters hold a
vigil outside Alipore Central Jail, Kolkata, where
Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged on August 14, 2004.
There are alternative punishments to the death penalty
which do not involve the premeditated and coldblooded
killing of a human being by the state in the name of
justice. Photograph: AP Photo/Bikas Das

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.

After all, on the face of it, the big numbers of 2012 are mostly about other countries:

• Only 21 of the world’s countries were recorded as having carried out executions in 2012 – the same number as in 2011, but down from 28 countries a decade earlier in 2003.
• In 2012, at least 682 executions were known to have been carried out worldwide, two more than in 2011. At least 1,722 newly imposed death sentences in 58 countries could be confirmed, compared to 1,923 in 63 countries the year before.
• That figure does not include the number of executions in China, which executes more people than any other country but keeps the data strictly secret.
• The top five executing countries in the world were once again China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and USA, with Yemen closely behind.
• Almost 99% of the executions in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region were carried out by Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
• In all, 43 executions were carried out in  the United States, the same figure as in 2011, though the number of abolitionist states rose to 17.
• In all, 174 of the 193 members states of the UN were execution-free  in 2012.
• Latvia was the latest country to abolish the death penalty.

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. Not more than China surely, but that dosn’t mean there’s no reason to worry.

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.

Third, we live in intolerant times indeed. The right to feel offended over frivolous excuses and under puerile pretexts takes precedence over the right to free expression. In such a milieu, it is only natural that society will always clamour for blood. An intolerant society thrives on blood.

Fourth, when Ajmal Kasab was executed late last year, it was apparent that the only way you could prove your patriotism to some poeple (many, in fact, if you ask me) was to unequivocally support Kasab’s execution. The same went for Afzal Guru earlier this year, and the same will arguably hold true in Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s case too. If nationalism is all about how much you shriek in favour of the death penalty, we certainly live in the Dark Ages.

Fifth, there is little doubt that the death penalty issue (especially in the backdrop of the Kasab and Afzal executions, as also the public protests in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape) has also cleaved civil society down the middle. This takes off from the earlier point, and is compounded by the fact that except die-hard peaceniks, few are willing to speak against the death penalty. In a socio-political climate where society feels that the panacea for all evil must be the death penalty, the sobering effect must come from a collective statement issued by women’s and progressive groups condemning sexual violence and opposing the death penalty.

The bottomline is clear: the death penalty is as much about a brutalised society as it is about a brutal one. There can’t be a sureshot and clear way out.

Courtesy: DNA India