Insanity and madness prevail when people think and act as a crowd. To stymie this madness and discipline their behavior, Laws are promulgated and implemented. Those passing the laws are [therefore] expected to be above the thinking of a crowd. If lawmakers are thinking like a charged crowd, their nation will be doomed.
The same thing has happened recently when our National Assembly has passed a resolution stipulating the public hanging of child molesters (who kill a child after raping). It seemed like some incited and instigated crowd was conducting the process of passing this condemnable law. This law warrants all kind of condemnation, and has us toured in the dark ages.
Upbringing of a person matters a lot. Instead of punishing culprits, can we train and educate them to be a better citizen? We always forget that education is the most powerful panacea for all our ills. But such awareness tools would put the traditionalists and fanatics to disadvantage, that’s why they urge for the severe punishments and discourage the educational campaigns in the name of preserving our cultural ethos.
Today the world is talking of abolishing the heinous practice of executing a criminal, let alone do this publically. It is not fathomable why taking the life of someone would make this world a better place to live in. The shame and exposure associated with the criminal of a serious crime is sufficient to bury him alive. The [life] sentence of incarceration provides an exemplary punishment, and keep others from doing such things.
The raison-deter of criminal procedure codes suffice here. Because, it states the objective of punishment is to discourage others from doing such abominable acts. All kinds of executions are just to satisfy the animalistic instincts of the public at large. These kind of things happened in the dark ages, when even winning a war wouldn’t quench the thirst of a victorious army. Soldiers of the winning side would mutilate the bodies of their enemies. It is detestable that the similar show is put by those in charge of guarding our constitution.
Such proposals have also been brought up in past just to placate our angry and provoked mob. One such occasion was lifting of the moratorium on death penalty post APS attack in Peshawar. It was demanded by some lawmakers that hard core terrorists are beheaded [Saudi style] in public. Fortunately, this resolution wasn’t even allowed to be the part of debate in National assembly. Head of security institutions even condemned this kind of punishment openly. It gave an impression that still sanity prevailed in our institutions.
The declination of the proposal of beheading the terrorists was a loss for the obscurantists and bigots present in our lines. These chauvinists believe in ‘eye for an eye’ rule and rebuff any talk of logic. Such people are always at daggers drawn against the people with a different opinion, and would undertake abhorrent acts in the guise of patriotism.
This umpteenth development in the ‘rape and kill’ cases on rise in our society, is but only a short term fix. If anything it would hardly pacify the family of the deceased. People would just clap for such brutal laws and celebrate the death of a criminal. After that they would eagerly wait for such crime to happen again. Vices like lynching also take root from such lapses of natural justice. It was also observed in the countries where public hanging was in vogue, that some cases were decided in a haste and on the basis of insufficient evidence.
The law [there] believed such punishments would act as a potent deterrent for the potential criminals. In making an example of the criminal, the right to have a fair justice is often overlooked. The long-term solution to such crimes lie in educating the children about the honey traps they often fall victim to. We always forget that education is the most powerful panacea for all our ills. But such awareness tools would put the traditionalists and fanatics to disadvantage, that’s why they urge for the severe punishments and discourage the educational campaigns in the name of preserving our cultural ethos.
It would be very delighting if sanity once again prevails and this law of public hanging is revoked. Only dissemination of awareness and education on this specific ill would ensure that our society is purged of it for good.