We do not want to live if our son is hanged. Our son is not with us. He is in jail, but we know he is alive. All seven members of our family will end our lives if he is hanged. We will come back to the city and end our lives in the heart of the city if our son is hanged.
- Belarani (Dhananjoy Chatterjee's mother)
My son has been imprisoned for the last 14 years. Can't the courts wait for a few more years before hanging him?
- Bangshidhar (Dhananjoy Chatterjee's father)
Personally, I'm against capital punishment. But Chatterjee's crime should be met with exemplary punishment.
- Jyoti Basu (former West Bengal chief minister and senior CPI-M leader)
Death penalty is cruel, inhuman and uncivil. While any human being can err in judgement, it is not possible to bring back the person after execution if the judgement is later found to be erroneous.
- Sujato Bhadra (general secretary, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights)
A barbaric crime like rape and murder must be punished but the punishment should not be a barbaric one like death penalty.
- Sachidananda Banerjee (president, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights)
Some of us had appealed to the president against capital punishment and had appealed for his clemency for the death row convict. The fact remains that the crime was very serious and I've nothing but contempt for such a crime. However, punishment by death is no answer.
- Mrinal Sen (filmmaker)
The man should be given the severest punishment, other than death. I'm against capital punishment because violence cannot be met with violence.
- Aparna Sen (director and former actress)
My view is that capital punishment should be abolished because it's barbaric. The law should find out some other strong punishment for this kind of crime.
- Sunil Ganguly (popular Bengali writer)
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