Voices are rising over demand for clemency for Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. But indifferent to the politics, which is being played around his death, one martyr’s family says there is no other option but capital punishment for the one who shattered all their hopes.
Politicians have always used compensation to counter any questions of inaction and this case has been no different. On one occasion a senior cabinet minister from the ruling government remarked, “They are rich people now,” stressing upon the amount of compensation that the families of the martyrs had received. On another occasion, Jayawati alleges that while the martyrs’ families were not allowed to meet the President, Afzal Guru’s family was allowed inside through a different gate as a senior minister was escorting them. “We are willing to forget everything, and to tell you the truth these things don’t even matter anymore. We have gotten used to it. The pain that is inside will only die when the guilty is punished. We will see to it that there is no escape for Afzal Guru,” says Jayawati.
If one takes things from a slightly different perspective, this issue and various others similar to this have a common cause – inaction. Timely trials are already more of an oxymoron in India. And with several pending mercy petitions (some since 2003) with the President, it is certainly not encouraging. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) usually consults the state government concerned before submitting the mercy petition back to the President with its advice. The President’s powers are always exercised with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. In this case, the delay by the MHA to submit Afzal’s petition to the President with its advice, and now its reluctance in divulging details of the process, perhaps indicates the dilemma the government faces in keeping the issue free of political considerations. The opposition has even termed the delay in deciding Afzal’s petition as the government’s strategy to avoid a religious electoral backlash.
Further, more than often, the hype that surrounds sentencing of capital punishment to convicts and mercy pleas causes a lot of stress on the President’s ability to take an objective decision under Article 72 of the Constitution that empowers the President of India to grant pardon or commute the sentence of a convict found guilty by Court. But holding it for as long as eight years is what leads to unwarranted consequences. The only thing that now remains to be seen is whether India’s most politicised death penalty will come to a logical end or not.
If one takes things from a slightly different perspective, this issue and various others similar to this have a common cause – inaction. Timely trials are already more of an oxymoron in India. And with several pending mercy petitions (some since 2003) with the President, it is certainly not encouraging. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) usually consults the state government concerned before submitting the mercy petition back to the President with its advice. The President’s powers are always exercised with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. In this case, the delay by the MHA to submit Afzal’s petition to the President with its advice, and now its reluctance in divulging details of the process, perhaps indicates the dilemma the government faces in keeping the issue free of political considerations. The opposition has even termed the delay in deciding Afzal’s petition as the government’s strategy to avoid a religious electoral backlash.
Further, more than often, the hype that surrounds sentencing of capital punishment to convicts and mercy pleas causes a lot of stress on the President’s ability to take an objective decision under Article 72 of the Constitution that empowers the President of India to grant pardon or commute the sentence of a convict found guilty by Court. But holding it for as long as eight years is what leads to unwarranted consequences. The only thing that now remains to be seen is whether India’s most politicised death penalty will come to a logical end or not.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
