Thursday, May 06, 2010

Capital Punishment for Terrorists – Is it sufficient??

The special court set up to hear the Mumbai attacks of 26/11 has finally come out with the verdict. Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive, has been convicted on various counts and has been sentenced to death. This is a commendable achievement by the Indian Judiciary, to announce its verdict in around 18 months considering that loads of other cases have been pending in the Indian courts since decades.

But the point to be debated is whether capital punishment or death penalty is a solution to prevent terrorism? A simple point to be understood is that a terrorist or a suicide bomber who is fully armed and on a mission, is definitely not bothered about being killed. Death doesn’t deter him at all. He is fully prepared to die the moment he takes up the mission and once done, it’s only a bonus if he returns back alive.

With that background in mind, how does a capital punishment help?? These people are supposedly very strong willed, and that in itself is a big challenge. But how many of such terrorists can be sentenced to death?? And just sentencing them to death doesn’t solve the matter at all. The decision has to be mandatorily ratified by the High Court. The convict also has the option of going to the Supreme Court and even to the President with a petition for clemency. And to add to the facts, there are 300 odd people waiting to be hanged to death in India, the wait being attributed to various reasons some political, some social etc..

In fact, Kasab will become a hero back home. He will be taken as an example for selflessness and commitment in future terrorist training camps. More people will be brainwashed and coerced into the act.

A terrorist should not be killed, nor should he be left to live peacefully. He should be tortured endlessly. He must feel the pain, which the families of the victims are going to live with for the rest of their lives. He must not be allowed to sleep when he wants. The treatment should make him crave for death and death should not come to him easily. The punishment has to be such that it should make someone planning a terrorist attack, think a hundred times before doing it.

Of course there will be hypocrites all over the country who will oppose this in the name of human rights violations. But it’s high time to act tough. We cannot just let these things happen again and again, and react to it later on. Hundreds of innocent lives will be lost (which would be forgotten eventually) and the damage will already be done. The terrorists will have succeeded in accomplishing their objectives. It’s time to be proactive and do something that uproots the evils of terrorism.