I am asking this question after hearing and seeing the news about the judgment in Priyadarshani Mattoo's murder case. And I am particularly unhappy that the judgement was hailed as "Justice" and a pointed reference made to the fact that it is capital punishment.

I had never been a votary for capital punishment. As I said here and here, death cannot avenge death. As I kept listening to the news and the commentaries being made in the media, I can't help but feel sad that we as a Society had long lost the concept of tolerance and we are no better than barbarians. I am not saying what Santhosh Singh did was correct or right- far from it. I strongly condemn his actions. I also know that condemnation would not be enough. But to avenge one death with another is hardly the way to go.

I was completely appalled to hear words like "Now, Priyadarshani's soul would rest in peace", "Justice delayed is not Justice denied"- What is Justice for these people? If you mean punishment by killing is Justice, then I would rather say we are not a civilized society. Why should we let the soul rest in peace by killing another one? If what Santhosh Singh did was wrong, is it any more right what we do? He was convicted 15 days before and there was no news of Justice delayed or Justice delivered. The media wanted him to die and only when they got the punishment, they pronounced the verdict as Justice.

We use our legal systems to pronounce who deserves to live and who doesn't. If we say what Santhosh Singh did was wrong, then how do we reconcile to what we are doing, as a sane, mature civilized society? Killing him with legal impunity. I would rate this as a more cold blooded murder than the one that Santhosh Singh did. To pre-determine a murder, to execute it to the precision of a executioner- this is what we are doing as a Society.

I want to make it clear again- I am not saying that punishment is bad- what I am saying is, Capital Punishment is wrong- morally. I wonder if the same news reporters and channels would say "Justice delivered", had the punishment been something of a life imprisonment for 200 years or so?. There can be a thousand wounded hearts wanting retribution for all sort of injustice. So if all of them prefer to answer in terms of death, then will it be fine or will it be justice then too? What lets us assume the role and power of deciding on an individual's right to live? I accept what Santhosh Singh did was a heinous crime- my point of contention is that, we are not any less heinous by hanging him to death!

Here, the media had already decided on what should be the punishment and they were only too happy to see it coming along. If this is the retribution for rape and murder (supposedly deserving death), then how can we ever condemn violence for retribution (assumed or otherwise). I can see the media's wish written all over, when there were words like "Soul rest in peace", "other victims can look forward to justice". What is the point that we are making? That we need to be reminded that our judicial system needs to hang someone to let others know that they too will be hung?

Hadn't we already hung Auto Shankar? Why hadn't it deterred others like him from committing a similar crime? If we think that we can deter crimes by punishment, we are obviously wrong. If that is the case, there should be no crime at all, for we had been hanging criminals for quite sometime now. What are we letting ourselves believe. I see a very basic flaw in our logic. We condemn revenge, we condemn violence, we condemn killing. But all these are fair and fine when done in the name of Law.

So, we legalize murder- Our way of rendering Justice!

Update: I am having an online discussion with a bunch of friends on this issue and the sort of observations that had come ranges from:

1. I agree to the punishment.
2. I agree that capital punishment is bad, but in this case, that is the only punishment possible.
3. I agree that capital punishment is bad not because we are killing him, but he would have to undergo a harsher punishment all life than be killed at one go!

These are responses not from any uneducated person. All of these are from people highly educated and in decent positions in Society. I am really appalled at the sense of revenge that we have (on behalf of the victim). While I completely understand their sympathies with the victim, they miss the point that what they are doing is exactly the same thing that they are opposing!

There were responses to the effect that even our Gods were killing (Rama killed Ravana, Krishna killed Kamsa etc, etc). Now, that leads me to think, have we ever made a God that doesn't threaten us with death or destruction for wrong deeds? Or is there any God that doesn't punish? and for that matter does God have the right to take ones life for the crime that he/she does? Can there be a God that doesn't punish a person and still remain a God- Wait..I am digressing.

Now, there were responses to the effect that we can't waste tax payers money on putting criminals like these in prisons and feed them till death! This lack of sensitivity to a person's life and the assumption that food, shelter and clothing are the only needs of a human being baffles me. There were also responses to the effect that we don't have a better option than death. This is even more saddening- We seem not to have a better option than killing a person for a rape and murder case.

This reminds me of the CNN-IBN coverage of the story, where the news reader kept repeating the point that this case is a "Rape and Murder" case, whereas some committee had suggested that there can be no capital punishment for only a rape case. Hardly makes any difference. And add that to some panel members comment that rapists should not be pardoned. Is it because, unconsciously and/or subconsciously we still place a heavy premium of the sexual purity of women? Had it been a molestation of a man by the same person and subsequent murder, would we still call for capital punishment? [To be updated as I get more thoughts and more responses]

I am writing this after been subjected to 2 days of absolute insensitivity and arrogance of the so called Society. I had always wondered on this concept of Society- the effect that it had(s) on individual and the simple ignorance of individual on the effects the society has on him. Whenever I ask someone to define "Society", more often than not, it's a vague definition and when I ask them to identify what society is made of, it's a complete puzzled look that I get as reply.

Society as defined by Dictionary.com is,

an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.

a body of individuals living as members of a community; community.

the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community: the evolution of human society.

a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members: American society.

such a system characterized by its dominant economic class or form: middle-class society; industrial society.

those with whom one has companionship.

companionship; company: to enjoy one's society.

the social life of wealthy, prominent, or fashionable persons.

the social class that comprises such persons.

the condition of those living in companionship with others, or in a community, rather than in isolation.

Biology. a closely integrated group of social organisms of the same species exhibiting division of labor.

Ecclesiastical. an ecclesiastical society.

–adjective of, pertaining to, or characteristic of elegant society: a society photographer.

So, who all make up my Society? - Does the auto rickshaw driver who takes me to office makes my Society? or how about the grocery store owner down the street? or my roommate? or my relatives or my parents...Though it can be argued that all make up my society, it is often the case that many in the list have a non-existent to at the most negligible influence on me and my life. So in the end it's just a handful of people around you that decide what you do.

However, there are instances, when this theory goes for a toss- like what had been happening for the past 2 days...first come the "Karnataka Bandh", which was ostensibly to send a message to neighbouring Maharashtra on the Belgaum issue. I do agree that there might be issues with a particular place going to the other state and you loosing out on that piece of real estate...but to jeopardize an entire state for a day, all offices closed, normal life disturbed, economy brought to a stand still- what are we achieving?? Now, it doesn't seem to me that Maharashtra suffered- it is Karnataka that had lost because of the strike- lost days of work, money, and add to all these hardship to people living in Karnataka.

The heights of all this is when this society forces me to abide by its wishes- denies me my choices, my basic rights and curtails my discretion. Take for example, the move by the cable TV operators in Bangalore who went on to blacken out all non-kannada channels. Now, who are these people to decide what should I see? Who gave them the rights to decide for me? I pay for the cable service I get and I expect an uninterrupted service of my choice. I cant be held at ransom like this, at the whims and fancy of someone masquerading as the society, being my master.

The saga continued today in Mangalore. There were some communal disturbance, and as again it was declared a holiday for my company. Now, there is no news on what prompted the scuffle, and there is no clear information on what is happening. But the end result is that the entire day had been wasted with no productive work done. There was no visible disturbance in streets, while I cannot deny that there was any disturbance at all. What I strongly condemn is, disrupting public life for personal issues comes from the veil that the Society offers- now anyone can take advantage of such a system and claim to represent the society and the society has no way of denying him or proving him wrong.

This is where the entire idea of Society puzzles me....when at some point it seems like powerful to deny me my choices and options, at the other hand it is powerless itself with a person who chooses to take it for a ride. Society has the power of influence only on those who choose to accept it...for those who don't..well, its a mute point!

Yesterday, as I was walking to my home from Office, with "She's got the looks" on the lips and feet in air, I was stopped by a sudden traffic jam..Buses, auto rickshaws, cars, and bikes all honking as if that was the last moment of life on earth- the sounds were creeping into me in spite of the high volume that my iPod had been coughing out.

It took me some seconds to understand what had happened. I saw a man bleeding profusely, fighting with another man, and a woman down on the divider on the road, bleeding too. They seem to be those employed to clean the divider- to cut the grass that had grown there, to make the divider more walk able.

There was a sizeable crowd around, everyone standing on either side of the road, watching, chatting amongst themselves, tch-tching, asking to one another what had happened to the woman, while one was busy taking the two men away from each other- one was having a shovel in his hands and the other a screw driver and a cutting plier.

The woman was bleeding and was for sure unconscious. I was disturbed by the sight. None of the people around standing and watching the scene did anything to help the poor soul. The first thought was to curse everyone...I slowly took out my iPod, curled it up, secured it in my bag, then starred at the man trying to wake up the woman. He was holding her "dead" hand, pulling her, trying to get the woman back to consciousness.

I wanted to be the “Hero”, go there, ask the people to move off, create a scene, call for ambulance, call for some auto at least to take her to the hospital. The pessimist in me kept reminding me on how I don’t know the language, on how I will be able to answer the police, how I might be able to tackle the pulls and pushes of such an act, how I need to reach home to catch the “Senthamizh naadenum podehinile” in Java TV, the killing thirst, the packing that I need to do for my travel the next day.

I cursed everyone on the street- from the mute spectators, to the speeding vehicles on the other side of the road, the men who were still intent on fighting despite the blood, the tch-tching people in the bus.

I wanted to do something- should I be the one to act? Should I go there and do all that is necessary? What is the world coming to?? Why is anyone not helping the men in need?

I slowly move out of the croud..dial 100 and complain about the incident. The person on the other end doesn’t ask for my number [may be he has a caller id already- will he call me back in case I need to be the witness??]. He promises to send someone immediately. He asks for the condition of the woman. His voice was reassuring. I switch on the iPod with the satisfaction of a Hero.

In the night when I go for dinner, the place is as busy as ever.

Please don't get me wrong!!..If you think that having a web site will cure all your ills, then you aren't alone in this Cricket and, off late IT Crazy nation. No- Don’t pass the judgment yet. It's not that I am a cynical person to the core. Not Yet...but going by the way the Nation goes on it's 59th Independence Day, I am afraid I might be one, before the dye dries on my hair!!

Happen to read this write up by Giga Om!!..The Reuters story, as Om Says, had been picked up by many news papers around the world. I was intrigued when I saw the story. It seemed like a perfect pill for the woes of the villages. Surprised and enthused, I went to the site given in the web site. And then, all my hopes crash landed. Boom!!

Typical of all the initial hype, the website has nothing more than the history, geography, civics, social science of the village- and ofcourse, the Legislative Set up, which has only the photo and the contact details of the Hon'ble Minister of Transport, Public Health and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Randeep Singh Surjewala. I searched long for the Legislative Setup. I couldn't find one..I am convinced that the Minister is all that is there for the "setup". Hmmmm..

Have a look at his profile.

I am convinced, he is the youngest person still alive in Indian National Congress.

Let all these rest. What is the purpose of the site? You can do all that is claimed the web site will do, without that website! I wonder how much money was spent in creating this page. I really believe, had that money been spent on even clearing the garbage on streets, it would have been more productive. No- I am not saying web pages are useless. Set your priorities right is all that I am saying.

Read a sample page:

Power Supply

Power distribution timings are not stable and power cuts happen abruptly. The condition of electric wires is awesome (Emphasis added) and needs to be replaced at a number of places.

Un-employment
There are a number of unemployed youth. [Reproduced from the page]

I rest my case. I don't have much to say..I only wish we come out of the Magical Pill obsession.