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Sikhs and the
Death Penalty
 It is time for
every Sikh to openly proclaim his or her opposition to death
penalty. Sikhs are compassionate people and in all cases we
empathize with the family and friends of victims of all kinds of
heinous crimes, but at the same time, we are conscious that killing
someone in retribution will neither heal nor resolve the tragedy of
such families. There is ample historical and legal evidence to
support that the killing of one human being by another person or
state is wrong and that capital punishment is not a deterrent to
crime and serves only the purpose of revenge.
The Sikh ethical
approach of compassion, forgiveness and scope for reformation of
one's life is a prerequisite for a progressive civil society.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh in his 40 year reign (1799-1839) did not use
the death penalty.
During the last
nearly three decades, Bhai Satwant Singh, Bhai Kehar Singh, Bhai
Sukhdev Singh and Bhai Harjinder Singh have been executed by the
Indian state unmindful of the sentiments of the Sikh people. In
each case, the judgements of the respective courts, including the
apex court have flouted norms of jurisprudence. The evidence
against Kehar Singh would have been insufficient to send someone to
a day’s prison, but he was executed. Bhai Harjinder Singh and Bhai
Sukhdev Singh were executed under TADA, while the legality of the
law itself was under question in the Indian Supreme Court.
Pursuing the
struggle for Sikh independence, three pol itical activists - Devinder
Pal Singh Bhullar, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh are
presently on the death row. The judgement against Prof. Bhullar is a
travesty of norms of criminal jurisprudence. In his dissenting judgement, Justice Shah concluded that there was no evidence to
convict Bhullar and that a dubious confession could not be the basis
for awarding the death sentence.
The judgement
against Jagtar Singh Hawara and Balwant Singh clearly indicates
political pressure as there is no evidence whatsoever –direct or
circumstantial to establish criminal conspiracy. Their petition for
obtaining some prosecution papers is still pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, though death penalty has already been
pronounced.
7
May,
2008
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