CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: CUTTING OFF THE HEAD TO GET RID OF A HEADACHE

THE THIRST OF BLOOD IS TO BE PERMANENTLY ELEMINATED

“When a large number of people who may or may not be criminals are murdered at the same time, it is called gan'ahanana. Even if a large number of criminals are murdered at the same time this term is used because it is very difficult to theoretically judge who is a criminal and who is not. Sometimes innocent people may be subjected to severe punishment because wrong information appeared in the documents and records concerned with their trials. At other times judges may deliver incorrect judgements, and in fact there are numerous cases where judges have made mistakes. In such circumstances even innocent people may be given capital punishment. Then again, innocent people or those who have committed minor crimes are sometimes deliberately given capital punishment because of malicious judgements. Such punishments can never be supported.

For example, the murder of Socrates can never be supported, neither can the hanging of King Nanda Kumar or the assassination of Siraj-ud-doola. These murders can never be justified by logic or reason.

Over and above these examples, the very institution of capital punishment cannot be supported. Those who kill other human beings violate cardinal human principles. What to speak of human beings, those who kill animals also overstep cardinal principles hence their actions can never be justified. One who has killed another in the name of justice is even more condemnable, but even then the system of capital punishment cannot be supported. Nor can we support the actions of die-hard criminals who strut arrogantly through the streets waging a campaign of terror and destruction. Assassins and murderers must be brought within a penal code based on Neo-Humanism so that their thirst for blood is permanently eliminated.” (Shrii P. R. Sarkar, 1 May 1988, Calcutta, "Shabda Cayanika' " Part 16)

UNITY

“Unity among the members of any society or social structure is absolutely necessary; otherwise the structure will start disintegrating. Lack of unity among the members of society because of too much self-interest in the individual members, the formation of groups for economic or social advantage, and the lack of understanding of others' acts not only bring about the downfall of society but also completely eradicate it from the face of the earth. Instances of so many groups and empires disappearing altogether are not rare in the little-known history of this world.

The problem, therefore, is the preservation of unity in society. If it is possible to enthuse the members of society with the following they will ensure unity in society -- a common ideal, a casteless society, collective social functions and no capital punishment.

Capital punishment brings about the deterioration in society and stops the further progress of the individuals on whom capital punishment is inflicted. Such individuals form sects or groups which become the lower or discarded groups of society and this gives rise to social disruption and discord.” (Shrii P. R. Sarkar, 1957, "Ta’ttvika Praveshika’)"

PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO THE OFFENCE

“You know that nothing is perfect in this universe of relativity. So it is quite natural that the judicial system of the world, whether in the past, present or future, can never be perfect. Therefore nobody should be given capital punishment on the basis of this imperfect system. Each and every individual, whether they are a criminal or not, can claim a chance to rectify their conduct from the society. So in PROUT's legal structure everybody should get ample scope for rectifying their character and conduct. If a person is condemned to capital punishment, he or she won't get such scope, so PROUT denounces this sort of punishment. But in very special cases, where a person has become a demon and is going against the collective interest and there is no chance of rectification, circumstances may arise which warrant capital punishment. For example, during war this exception may sometimes be permissible. But generally we should not support this punishment on principle. Punishment should be appropriate to the offense.” (Shrii P. R. Sarkar, July 1961, Ranchi, from "TALKS ON PROUT")

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: CUTTING OFF THE HEAD TO GET RID OF A HEADACHE

“If "a life for a life" is considered an unassailable principle of justice, then there is nothing more to say. But remember that born criminals commit their crimes due to their physical or psychic abnormalities; are not the so-called civilized people who make no effort to cure such born criminals, guilty of the same crime? Does not capital punishment amount to cutting off the head to get rid of a headache? In my opinion to take the life of a born criminal of this type is as much a crime as it would be to pass a death sentence on a patient just because we could not cure the person's illness. It is the duty of a civilized society to arrange for born criminals to be cured of their ailments. Killing them to lighten the burden caused by their lives is certainly not indicative of a developed civilization.

So in my opinion the trials of born criminals should not concentrate solely on the magnitude of their crimes. Such criminals will have to be regarded with benevolent, humanistic sentiments, and means of curing them must be suggested.

Doctors quarantine those with an infectious disease to prevent the disease spreading to healthy people. Similarly it is necessary to isolate born criminals, indeed all types of criminals, from other people. The treatment of criminals should be undertaken in a prison, or better said, in a corrective centre. Prisons are not for punishment, rather prisons are hospitals for treatment of disease.

Psychologists cannot treat the mental diseases which inflict born criminals all alone; the cooperation of physicians and sociologists is essential. Psychologists will diagnose the mental disease and explain its origins, and they will also play a role in helping cure it as far as possible. Doctors will be responsible for curing the disease through medicine or surgery, insofar as it is caused by physiological abnormalities. Then sociologists will have to arrange for the social rehabilitation of the criminal after he or she has recovered. If psychologists only describe the nature of the disease, or if doctors only diagnose the physiological disorders and nothing more, it will not be possible to accomplish anything productive. Of course at the present time the patient may not make a complete recovery despite the concerted efforts of psychologists and sociologists, because psychology is still in an underdeveloped state. Moreover, doctors have not yet acquired the skills needed to remove the physiological abnormalities responsible for mental disease. And furthermore, the science of sociology has only just emerged; it is developing extremely slowly. However, we must take the above measures for born criminals.

As long as society fails to take such humanistic measures in dealing with born criminals, it is farcical to compel them to stand trial.

One must always remember that born criminals are patients, and that their disease is stubborn. It can of course be cured quite quickly through spiritual practices, and in a slightly longer period through yogic methods, but for this a congenial environment is essential. Prison environments should therefore be made more pure, more humane.” (Shrii P. R. Sarkar, November 1959, "HUMAN SOCIETY", Part 1)
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RELATED ARTICLES FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS

Cry against capital punishment

A STAFF REPORTER, Calcutta, Aug. 14: The act of sending a person to the gallows is barbaric and we do not deserve the tag of a civilised society, argued a few among the thousands who had gathered outside Alipore Central Jail this morning.

“Our aim was not to defend Dhananjoy Chatterjee — he committed a heinous crime and deserved punishment. But we are fighting for a greater cause. We raised our voice against those who are in favour of capital punishment, reflecting the malice of the society we live in,” said a campaigner against death sentence.

Dhananjoy was hanged this morning for the rape and murder of schoolgirl Hetal Parekh 14 years ago.

“There are many who are for capital punishment. They claim that the fear of being hanged acts as a deterrent for many like-minded criminals. However, a recent study by the UN has proved them wrong,” said Kirity Roy, the secretary of the Manabadhikar Suraksha Manch.

“The crime situation in the countries that have done away with the system has improved over the years, while in the ones that have not, the situation has deteriorated,” he said.

“There have been several rape cases in the last one week in the state. Has the decision to hang Dhananjoy changed the attitude of the rapists?” asked Gautam Sen, a member of the Pratibadi Udyog. (Source: TELEGRAPH INDIA)
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Is capital punishment class-specific?

By RAKESH BHATNAGAR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2004 12:14:12 AM]

NEW DELHI: Is the controversy over death sentence linked to class bias? Many might think so after going through the background of those who were ordered to be hanged by different courts.

The case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a former security guard of a Kolkata apartment complex, the latest to be on the death row, has a lot in common with others sentenced to death for committing the "rarest of rare crimes".

Om Prakash, who killed all four members of his employer Brigadier S Khanna's family, was ordered to be hanged. "He who meticulously planned the murder is liable to death sentence," said the court while ordering the extreme penalty for Om Prakash.

One Kheraj Ram also met with the same fate for killing his wife, his son and brother-in-law in a Rajasthan village.

The apex court also upheld the extreme penalty given to one Prakash Dhawal who had killed his mother, brother and his wife and three children in a Maharashtra village.

But in 1995, the apex court saved a death convict, who had raped and murdered a two-year-old girl, from the gallows by commuting the capital punishment to a life term sentence.

"Humanist approach should be taken," said the court while giving reprieve to accused Mohammad Chaman.

Though the gravity of offence and the diabolic manner in which it was executed could be crucial factors to determine the quantum of sentence, former Supreme Court Chief Justice P N Bhagwati had declared the extreme penalty as unconstitutional for it was arbitrary and had a "class bias".

Though four other judges - the then Chief Justice Y V Chandrachud, Justices N L Unthawalia, R S Sarkaria and A C Gupta (all retired) - unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the death sentence, Justice Bhagwati dissented from them.

"There is also one other characteristic of death penalty that is revealed by a study of the decided cases and it is that death sentence has a certain class complexion or class bias inasmuch as it is largely the poor and the down-trodden who are victims of this extreme penalty," Justice Bhagwati said in his verdict on August 16, 1982.

He elaborated to substantiate his charge. "We would hardly find a rich or affluent person going to the gallows."

Capital punishment, as pointed out by Warden Duffy is 'a privilege of the poor', he said. (Source: TIMES OF INDIA)

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'Capital punishment is not a deterrent'

August 04, 2004 17:33 IST; Last Updated: August 04, 2004 17:57 IST

Celebrity filmmaker Aparna Sen and Magsaysay awardee litterateur Mahasweta Devi on Wednesday said President A P J Abdul Kalam's decision to reject Dhananjoy Chatterjee's mercy petition is a blow to the ongoing debate on the issue.

Both are strong opponents of capital punishment.

"This is really sad. Though it must have been a tough decision for the President to make, it is unfortunate that the big debate on capital punishment was not allowed to move ahead," Sen told PTI.

But she clarified that she wants abolition of capital punishment but does not favour clemency for Dhananjoy. "He did commit a heinous crime but to kill a man because he has killed someone else certainly is not a solution," she said.

Echoing her views, social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi said, "After Dhananjoy's execution was announced, has the number of rapes and crimes against women gone down? An alarming number of gang rapes were reported from West Bengal just after that (announcement of the death sentence). Is anyone afraid of capital punishment?"

Citing the example of a 1997 case when the President had considered the clemency petition of four rape-and-murder convicts from Andhra Pradesh on her request, she said they had undergone imprisonment and were leading normal lives with their families today.

She has another question. "If Chatterjee was to be hanged, why was he left to languish in the jail for 10 years before the matter was considered worth taking note of?" (Source: REDIFF.COM)

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It is shamful and painful to hang God living in Human/ Living beings!

Those who support hanging a human are those who are not evolved human beings themselves.The one who is pure,psychically and spiritually evolved and surrenderd to Supreme Consciousness, has enough compassion and inner strength to pardon guilty and that makes gulity person to realize and evolve.We are not capable to create a human being/any creature so far and we have no authority to end human life.

We may not know what prompted that event, what were their samskars, what was their back ground in past lives and why it happened that way. Even if
a person does what he happens to do; whole society is directly or indirectly responsible for that happening.That person may realize his/her blunder and change soon after committing crime but society may go on punishing that person and may in turn happen to further degenerate that person. In stead, criminals should be given an opportuntity to improve by providing a spiritual environment.

Increasing crimes are due to degeneration in human values, static food (Wrong intakes like non vegetarian food, drinks, etc.), wrong TV/media shows, general degradation, less income / economic opportunities, dogmas, corruption, pollution, lack of education, general lack of well being on physical, psychic and spiritual levels.

As a State /National/Global Human Society, we are all fully responsible for faults, guilt and crimes of members of our socity of which we are a part or representative as a human being/leader/President/Minister/ Judge.By hanging a so called criminal, we only do what that person did and that is no remedy.It is shameful that there is none evolved or independent and bold enough in positions of authorities in a Nation (Not even its so called humanitarian, vegetarian and spiritually inclined President) to extend a helping hand to a human who is to be hanged in spite of all provisions and discretionary powers provided by constitution of the country. It simply shows how poor our great India has become in GRACE!

Balmiki was a dacoit but he was turned into a Rsi by gracious touch!
An enlightened person may be able to improve a faulty person by his gracious touch, decisions, policies and actions and he need not hang a person. Hanging simply shows failure of a system and a Nation in handling that person who was product/by-product of its own! Have we hanged/killed tendencies of rape and murders of our society and its leaders by hanging merely a person of our society?

Sitting several thousand miles away from place of hanging in land of Rabindra Nath Tagore, for last 4 hours, I am deeply feeling spiritual vibration of departed soul who had by now got evolved and is no more amidst us on this Planet in that physical form. By reading about his last wish and daily routine and spiritual vibration, it looks that he got evolved but those who executed him are not evolved enough! Those who judged/executed him are to be ultimately judged/executed by the ULTIMATE JUDGE/EXECUTER (GOD) ON GALLOWS OF TIME!

May God bless and grace us all so that we are able to understand/realize HIM in each one of us! As long as, any entity is living and we try to kill it, we are killing GOD in it and GOD in us.

With a deep urge to every one to search God in us and save HIM/HER!

With deepest love and regards to God in you !

By Gopal Baghel (Source: SIFY.COM)
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Danes Protest Capital Punishment in Iraq

Tue Aug 10,12:34 PM ET

By CHRISTIAN WIENBERG, Associated Press Writer

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - In a potential rift, Danish troops in Iraq have stopped handing over prisoners to British commanding forces because the Iraqi government reinstated capital punishment, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Denmark — like Britain — is obliged under the European Convention on Human Rights not to extradite prisoners who could face the death penalty, which is banned in the European Union. But Britain insisted Tuesday that European human rights conventions don't apply in Iraq, and that detainees must be remitted to the Iraqis.

For now, Danish troops, who operate in southern Iraq under British authority, have an informal agreement that prisoners won't be handed over to the Iraqis without Danish consent, Defense Ministry spokesman Jakob Winther said. Until that agreement becomes official, Danes will not hand over suspects they apprehend.

"We wish to know for certain that people in our custody won't be handed over to face the death penalty," Danish Defense Minister Soeren Gade said late Monday in Washington, where he met with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to discuss Denmark's participation in peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The defense spokesman said an explicit agreement will most likely be sorted out soon. There was no immediate comment on Denmark's request from the British Foreign Office, however.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said that because its troops mostly patrol jointly with Iraqi police, arrested suspects usually went automatically into Iraqi custody. But in some cases, British soldiers on their own arrest suspects and must hand them over — despite the reinstatement of capital punishment.

"We are apprehending these suspects of a criminal offense in Iraq in support of the Iraqi security forces and Iraqi efforts to secure law and order," the ministry said in a statement. "There will be situations in which we have no choice but to hand over detainees into the Iraqi criminal justice system."

The issue is currently under scrutiny in Britain's High Court, where the families of six Iraqis allegedly slain by British troops are seeking an independent investigation.

The families' lawyers say the human rights convention, which guarantees the right to life and bars torture or degrading treatment, should apply. Lawyers for the government are arguing it does not apply outside Europe.

Denmark's 496 soldiers serve in Basra and nearby Qurnah in British-controlled southern Iraq.

Danish troops have not detained any Iraqis since the Iraqi government took charge, June 28. And because the Danes usually arrest only one or two Iraqis per month in the relatively peaceful southern part of the country, it will not be a problem for Danish soldiers to detain potential prisoners themselves until an agreement with the British is sorted out, Winther, the spokesman, said.

The Iraqi government on Sunday reinstated capital punishment for people guilty of murder, endangering national security and distributing drugs, saying the death penalty was necessary to help put down the country's growing insurgency. (Source: Yahoo News Site)