On death penalty

Taking a cue from the award of the death penalty by the Supreme Court in two separate cases, the Organiser has sought to build a case for capital punishment for terrorist crimes.

Taking a cue from the award of the death penalty by the Supreme Court in two separate cases, the Organiser has sought to build a case for capital punishment for terrorist crimes. The Sangh Parivar has of late used the name of Afzal Guru — sentenced to death for the attack on Parliament — as a symbol to hit at the supposed soft-line of the Congress on terrorism. The article makes no mention of Afzal’s name in ‘Murderers Deserve No Sympathy’, but the insinuation is clear.

While claiming that the system is “attuned to show more sympathy for criminals than for the victims,” writer Joginder Singh argues that the “punishment should be appropriate to the crime.” He says that not even 10 per cent criminals, accused of murder, get the punishment they deserve. “We have a system of almost endless appeals, where legal processes drag on for years together, giving an opportunity to escape the punishment, more on technical than on substantial grounds. Even if all appeals fail, there is a final appeal to the Governor or the President, where influence and recommendations work to convert the death sentence into life imprisonment. Life imprisonment does not mean imprisonment for life, but for about 14 years, which further gets reduced to about ten years, with parole thrown in for good behaviour. Good behaviour means that the prisoner has not misbehaved in the jail, irrespective of his gross misconduct of having been found guilty as a criminal.”

Terrorists, according to the writer, have been committing mass murder, and except for a microscopic minority, they have been getting away with them. Four full-scale wars have cost the country a total of 5,468 personnel, but the toll in this low-intensity war over the past 15 years has been 61,013 civilians and 8,706 security personnel.

Swipe at Karunanidhi

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Praful Goradia, a BJP MP in Rajya Sabha, teamed up with Balraj Madhok some time ago to try and bring the Jana Sangh back to life. He has made light of the demand for a new Constitution by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi (‘Debate on new Constitution’). Tracing suggestions for rewriting the Constitution back to Indira Gandhi of the Emergency-phase, he sarcastically remarks: “Clearly, a long, detailed and all embracing testament does not suit the Hindu ethos which allows any number of paths to salvation. The gnanyoga is individual and self-contained intellectual realisation. The bhaktiyoga is again individual devotion. The karmayoga is about the only one that may call for performance in society.” He says the Constitution can be amended but not rewritten. The likes of Karunanidhi, he says, tongue firmly in cheek, should give a call for a Second Republic. If the call succeeds, the Constitution would disappear along with the first or the current republic.

And brickbats for CPM

The CPI(M) comes under blistering attack. The weekly describes the CPI(M)-led V.S. Achuthanandan regime as an “anaconda” which is “tightening its grip around the neck of Kerala’s populace.” The weekly draws on the pro-V.S. Janashakti magazine scoop on the “shatrusanhara puja” in the name of Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and his son Bijoy to charge the party with hypocrisy.

Next comes the alleged contempt of court by Local Administration Minister Paloli Mohammedkutty while addressing Calicut University employees at Kozhikode on January 30. The weekly poses questions to Pinarayi Vijayan after the seizure of .38 revolver bullets from him by the CISF at Chennai airport: Why were not the bullets recovered at Thiruvananthapuram by CISF? Did the CISF verify his baggage at Thiruvananthapuram? If, as per CISF, bullets were not in his bag at Thiruvananthapuram, where did the bullets come from, in Chennai?

In another article, the weekly alleges that the CPI(M), having got to power in Kerala with support from organisations like the PDP, NDF, SIMI, Kanthapuram Musliar and Jamaat-e-Islami, is going slow on cases pertaining to the Marad massacre, Beypore boat blast, explosions at Kozhikode bus stops and attacks on Tamil Nadu buses. “God save God’s own country!” it says.

Compiled by Pradeep Kaushal

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