[nukkad] FW: [nukkad] Capital punishment by Gurunath

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Dr. MC Gupta wrote:
1. Persecuting a pre-identified person and killing him is certainly a bigger
crime than causing death of a person or persons who are not intentionally
specific victims of the killer.

2. Killing for a cause [even false cause, though perceived to be genuine by
the killer] is lesser crime than killing for selfish purpose. In this case,
the perceived cause was state brutality in the exercise of law and order
maintenance function of the state [as per news report and comment in times
of India].
Unquote

On the contrary, I believe that when somebody kills at random just to
express his disapproval of the society he lives in, that is a much more
heinous crime than killing a pre-identified person. The fact that he doesn't
care who and how many die for his 'cause' makes it the worst crime. Such a
crime is always premeditated and targeted at the society and not just
against the individuals killed. When somebody kills a pre-identified person,
it is usually directed against the individual and not against the society,
it may not always be premeditated, he may have a motive against that person,
he may have been a victim of circumstances, there may be mitigating
circumstances. 

Killing for a 'cause' also doesn't make it any less heinous. The 'cause' is
just the perception of the killer as to what the society should be. He wants
to impose his perception on the society and doesn't mind terrorizing or even
destroying the very society he wants to change according to his perception.
Godse killed Gandhi for a 'cause' he believed in but most people in India
did not believe in. Ranbir Sena kills Dalits in Bihar for a 'cause'.
Maoists kills landlords in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in the name of their
ideology. Dara Singh burnt alive a priest and his children not because of
any 'selfish' motive like dispute about money or something but because of a
'cause' which is outside the realms of civilized society. Does the existence
of 'cause' make his crime graver or lighter? I think these killings for
'cause' are much more reprehensible than killing of, say, Jessica Lall in
Delhi. Not that killing of pre-identified individuals are condonable; but if
you must compare the two types of killings, I think random killings of
innocent people is a graver crime against the society than individual
killings. 

Unlike murder of pre-identified people, such killings for 'cause' goes
beyond death of innocent people. It terrorizes the society and more often
than not, is targeted to do so. It deserves the severest punishment a civil
society can impose. It is a moot point whether  the society should
'eliminate' such individuals or simply withdraw the benefits of social
living from such people who are inimical to the society.

V.K.Venugopal


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