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.

5 comments:

Buddy!!!! said...

Just to make a point, even torturing him wont make a difference. What we need to understand is that terrorism and the punishment to the guilty are two separate issues. Both are not mutual. The moot point is curbing terrorism and justice as such will take its natural course when a unlawful act happens. We as a nation have been weak in taking strong steps against violence. Guess our politicians are bound by Gandhian principles.....

Unknown said...

Well I can understand the sentiment, even if I don't entirely agree with it. If a suicide bomber isn't afraid of death, he is unlikely to be afraid of torture either. Most of these guys are so brain-washed that you could easily explain it away as 'being rewarded in heaven', or something along those lines.

What I find most worrying is the distance between these guys and the actual commanders of the operation. Even if you torture/interrogate them, they are unlikely to be in a position to give you much information. Its a lose-lose situation for India, because they could also lose face in international forums (Gitmo bay with the US for example).

Much as I hate to compare ourselves(since we are a democracy) to China, I think they're on the right track. Theres no red tape, no delays in action, nothing. I doubt anyone'll want to attack China, because they'll be able to retaliate swiftly. I think we need a law along those lines, giving special privileges to a particular anti-terror team. The obvious drawback to this of course, is that this team could misuse their power (which has been seen in pretty much every institution that has been given too much power). Its a tough decision to make, one which cannot easily be taken. My solution is to bomb the location of the camps. I'm sure most countries will eventually wisen up to the fact that if Pakistan is responsible for most terror attacks, these camps will need to be bombed. Yes this will be complicated to pull off(the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power complicates things significantly), but with the appropriate amount of pressure, I believe it can be done.

S 4 Sandeep said...

All the terrorists must be taken on a space mission and dropped on the moon ..

Prashanth Nayak said...

I echo your sentiments dude...

Ananth said...

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4487927/never_seen_footage_of_mumbai_attack/

From the conversations tapped in the footage,it is very clear that the terrorists were just a bunch of illiterates whose mindset could be simply compared to the mindset of an 'innocent' child that is promised a candy and told to do some grievous task. Attempts must be done to capture those intelligent bast***s who were remotely controlling these terrorists.There were couple of ppl involved from our side, who were suspected to guide these terrorists to their destiny.(aquitted now). But sometimes most of the attacks involve ppl from our own country who will be bribed for some mere amount to aid the attacks indirectly. Such ppl should be directed to the gallows before any terrorists. Having said that I strongly agree with the point that the verdict/punishment should be something torturous that any human should never think of committing the same mistake in the worst of his dreams.