The Amnesty International has asked India to abolish death sentence, after the reports that Ajmal Kasab was hanged to death in haste. A bill was already in place in the Lok Sabha seeking the abolition and all executions were pending owing to this bill. But how Kasab’s execution was decided has a story behind. According to Jawed Naqvi, a senior Indian columnist, the now deceased Hindu fundamentalist leader, Bal Thackeray, had taken a word from Mukherjee during the latter’s presidential election campaign. Now, referring to the execution of Kasab in Pune on November 21, the AI has written to President Mukherjee and sought abolishing of death sentence and immediate moratorium on executions. It is yet to be seen how the Indian government responds. A similar move is also in process in Pakistan.
Notably, during President Zardari’s tenure, not a single execution was made, except one last month. A debate is going on in favour of abolishing death sentence. This might be true but it is also noteworthy that not a single terrorist who caused deaths to many has so far been taken to task, or at least met with fair trial or prosecuted due to intimidations to police individuals, lawyers and judges by the terrorists.
