Why Hang?

I woke up to my Facebook updates inundated with news about Kasab’s hanging. As someone who had opposed it, and in general, is against death penalty, it is a rather sad start to the day. I am amazed how people celebrate death – in India, and in the US. The Pakistanis and Afghans who are killed by drones are presented in the public imagination in the US as ‘enemies of freedom’ of this country. They hate our freedom – so they should be killed. Kasab killed a couple of Indians, and had the potential for killing several others. Our imagination in the country is crafted with Kasab as the terrorist, who attacked India, and so should be hanged - publicly, preferably. I wonder why a people, who seek inspiration in the likes of Mohandas Gandhi would seek death with blood in their eyes. With the terrorist organization, Lashkar, claiming that Kasab’s death would actually inspire them, we have no reason to believe that death penalty can be a deterrent. What else can be the motive for a civilized, organized state and society to kill someone – en eye for an eye, perhaps? But that hardly sounds like a policy that a society that prides itself for being called civilized, would adopt.

Kasab was indeed becoming a drain on Indian middle-class tax payers, and that could possibly have been a reason to kill him. But if we can’t afford to keep him in our prison, did we not have any option to hand him over to international justice systems? A friend once told me that he should be hanged because he could be used by potential hijackers of Indian planes as a negotiating instrument. I wonder why it would not rather make sense for us to invest in increasing flight safety and security. Theoretically, feminist thoughts give me sufficient ground to explore this ‘desire to kill the enemy’, but I am holding on my reins, until I have discussed my thoughts with an academic. I will continue to think.