Death penalty is barbaric: BHU prof

LAW EXPERTS and Banaras Hindu University political scientists have said the death penalty has lost its relevance. They were reacting to the proposed execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who has been convicted of the 2001 Parliament attack. He is supposed to be hanged on October 20.

LAW EXPERTS and Banaras Hindu University political scientists have said the death penalty has lost its relevance.

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They were reacting to the proposed execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who has been convicted of the 2001 Parliament attack. He is supposed to be hanged on October 20.

“Death penalty is barbaric for a civilised country,” BHU’s head of the Political Science Department Prof Anjoo Sharan Upadhyay told HT.

“Justice does not mean revenge. Corrective measures should be initiated to ensure such incidents do not recur.”

Prof Upadhyay called for research into why people committed such acts.She said, “Afzal should not be pardoned at any cost. Rather, he should be punished in such a way that other terrorists do not commit such acts in future.”

Former BHU Dean of Law Faculty Prof MP Singh said, “In view of a global campaign, there is a strong opinion that death sentence as a form of punishment has lost its significance as it creates disrespect for human life.”

“I am against the institution of death penalty as a form of punishment, but so long it is there on the book it should not be made a political issue, particularly on communal lines. Therefore, I request all concerned to take an objective and scientific view of this fossilised system of punishment,” he added.