Death, in any form, is an unwelcome entry into this world of ours. Death is anti – life. It feeds on everything that makes life weak, unstable and insubstantial. The judge who pronounces the death penalty might have served the system well, but he does immense disservice to himself, to his species, to all that he stands for outside the ambit of the system to which he owes his judgeship.
Each convict who is condemned to death is robbed of a chance to rehabilitate himself. The chance is that the person condemned by law will take a second look at the universe. Law must learn assiduously to keep within its assigned limits; by imposing death penalty it takes upon itself the function of fate.
Those who are in favor of capital punishment are most likely to be avid readers of crime stories. We want more and more excitement to our senses, because it is an easier way to live than by providing “food” to our spirit and intellect. With increasing mechanization, the chances of the sense getting brutalized have also increased. Films glorify crime, violence, sordid sex and less careful among us – and they are in a majority – become their soft targets. So someone being sent to the gallows in real life becomes one more item of entertainment.
Death penalty is advocated mainly on the ground that it acts as a last deterrent and keeps the society, among other factors, in a functional state. This argument suggests a very low and also a wrong opinion of human nature. First, it considers human beings as being inclined towards committing crimes, including murders. It ignores all progress made so far in the field of humanities. Secondly death penalty sanctifies revenge as a form of justice. After all, what else is death penalty, but a vindication of “eye for an eye” or “life for a life”? Should vindictiveness and reprisal be made governing values of a civilized society? Should we turn our backs upon forgiveness, the loftiest of values?
ADVERTISEMENTS:
There are generally socio – economic causes behind the occurrence of crimes. A jilted lover turns desperate, but is it a purely private happening? There might be an apparently unrelated cause of his desperation. Sociologists, more than psychologists, have to delve into the objective causes of certain heinous acts, like blackmail and murder.
The Indian society is in a state of transition. A necessary corollary of change is strife and violence. Death penalty is far from being a drastic measure; it is a flimsy measure to combat a serious social problem.