Let’s not hang Bhullar; eye for an eye contrary to Gandhi’s philosophy
Saturday, April, 13 2013 - 13:00
By Our Political Editor-
CHANDIGARH: If hanging Davinderpal Bhullar a death row convict for last 18 years leads to solution of any problem, hang him. Not only does hanging him not solve any problem, but it certainly has the potential of leading to several problems which may be difficult to be confronted, leave aside controlled.
Death is not necessarily the only punishment for any crime howsoever heinous it may be andcertainly not in a civilised nation which follows Gandhi’s philosophy that spelt out that eye for an eye will only end up in blinding the whole world one day.
Supreme Court may be right in asserting that the delay in execution of the death sentence is no reason for commuting it to life. But imagine the plight of the man who is under death sentence for last eighteenyears and how the idea of death would be haunting him continuously.
According to Dr Nimesh Desai, the psychiatrist treating him, he is not responding to any treatment and has been continuously haunted by the idea of death. Rather he has been dying all these years. It isdifficult to understand as how stopping the breath of a man who has been dying every day during all these years will serve the collective conscience of the nation.
Unfortunately some jingoist television anchors are blowing up the issue in such a way that threatens to polarise the people along extremist lines. These anchors sitting in their television studios in far off Mumbai hardly realise what their misplaced and misguided jingoism can lead to. And quite likely they have not an iota of idea that what Punjab went through for ten long years.
Moreover, let this also be cleared that those supporting his mercy petition are only seeking a change in the nature of the punishment. Nobody demands that he be freed. The only demand is that he should notbe killed, if he has not already been dying all these years in the solitary cell.
At the same time the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhik Committee (SGPC) are not trying to put a genuine and sincere defence in his favour and are only playingpolitics. Interpreting the dismissal of his mercy petition by Supreme Court as denial of justice to entire Sikh community is disgusting.
After all the man targeted in the bomb blast, Maninderjit Singh Bitta, the then Indian Youth Congress president, also happens to be a Sikh. Bhullar’s case needs to be viewed dispassionately without taking any sides. He has been convicted for the conspiracy to kill Bitta by masterminding a bomb blast outside his office. Although Bitta survived, nine others died in the bomb blast. Interestingly all other accused in the case like Dayal Singh Lahoria and others, who were charged with being physically present at the time of blast, were acquitted while Bhullar who was not physically present but convicted of conspiracy has been awarded death sentence.
The Supreme Court verdict which upheld the death sentence was a split one as there was no consensus among the judges whether Bhullar deserved to go to the gallows.
Bhullar was the product of his times and also the circumstances. Looking back at Bhullar’s history he was accused of a conspiracy of targeting the then Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police. Although Bhullar could not be traced the police allegedly detained his father, who was a teacher and his uncle. The brothers never returned as they disappeared. That time is past. Hanging people like Bhullarmay only end up not only reviving those harsh memories, but even reviving these.
Bhullar’s anger, indignation and a strong sense of alienation is understandable. A young man, particularly at that time, would naturally avenge the disappearance (read cold blooded murder) of his father and the uncle. However, one wrong can never justify the other wrong. If Bhullar tried to seek revenge and target Bitta, who was quite vocal against terrorism, and succeeded in it, he deserves no leniency. But death is not necessarily the only punishment. It is vengeance. He has been punished and has been undergoing the punishment for a long time.
Punishing someone convicted of killing someone with death is like taking eye for an eye. The father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi’s words appear so relevant in this context that eye for an eyewill only end in blinding the whole world. Let us not mutually blind each other.
source: http://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/Let___s-not-hang-Bhullar_-eye-for-any-eye-goes-contrary-to-Gandhi___s-philosophy.html
