Even as most Mumbaikars hailed the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for the 26/11 terror attacks, human rights activists said that capital punishment does not solve any problem.
Moushumi Basu, secretary, Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), said: “In principle, we have always opposed death penalties - so be it Kasab or Koli (accused in the Nithari murder case). Our opinion is the same. The state has no right to take a person’s life. Many countries have banned death penalty. Death sentences don’t offer any solution to any problem.”
PA Sebastian, an advocate at the high court said that one needs to think about the reason behind an accused committing such a brutal crime. “Unless we study the reason behind the act, more Kasabs will be born. There is a need to study why young men are getting involved in terror activities? Awarding capital punishment is not a solution to curb terrorism,” Sabastian said.
Another high court advocate, Maharukh Adenwala, said it was sad that the law awards death penalty to a 21-year-old boy, who was brainwashed by his handlers. “Death penalty should be abolished. What difference does it make if he is kept in jail for rest of his life?” Adenwala added.
The last execution in India took place in August 2004 when then president APJ Abdul Kalam dismissed the mercy petition of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was executed for the rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Kolkata in March 1990.
International rights group Amnesty International had, in association with NGOs, launched a campaign against death penalty after Chatterjee’s execution. In an open letter to home minister P Chidambaram this year, Amnesty sought more information on the issue.
The United Nations (UN) has repeatedly called upon member states that retain the death penalty to be transparent about the application of this punishment, the letter said.
There are more than 130 countries across the globe where death penalty is banned. Yug Chaudhary, a high court advocate said death penalty under Indian law was permissible, but many foreign countries, including the UK, have abolished it.
“It depends on the country’s law. But, under the moral law, I have not a slightest doubt that death punishment is immoral,” said Chaudhary.
