[Reader-list] campaigning against death penalty
Rana Dasgupta
eye at ranadasgupta.com
Tue Aug 24 15:43:42 IST 2004
Thanks for interesting debate on this issue. Just wanted to comment on one aspect stated by Rahul thus:
>> But there is
>> something that we must make distinctions about and separate - for eg.
>> the debate for and against death penalty should not be linked to the
>> tolerance or intolerance of sexual violence against women.
I completely agree.
Some of the discussion about this issue has seemed to imply that there is some kind of absolutely natural progression from rape (or other violent crime) to the gallows. As if all that needed to be debated was the precise equation of equivalent suffering for the crime's victim and its perpetrator, and as if the mechanism of the second, reciprocal act of violence did not to be considered - as if it were abstact, sublime, other-worldly, semi-divine.
If you see the question in this way then you will respect those who call for the greatest possible violence in the second instance, for it is only they who have truly grasped the scale of suffering in the first.
But the execution of a criminal is as much a moral act as the original crime itself, and those who support it and implement it must bear responsibility for it and not pretend that it is a wholly natural result of the criminal's actions. Having found myself in Calcutta at the time this execution happened and been confronted in the mornings with the obscene journalistic extravaganzas of sadistic, ghoulish, bloodthirsty glee, I find it very difficult to read this punishment as simply that - a punishment. Were the readers of those papers waiting painfully for thirteen years for the suffering of this girl to be finally answered, did they see the events of august 14th as a final closure to a community's anguish? Frankly, I think not. I think this was a state-sponsored festival of violence, unfolding with thrilling twists and turns to its final, inevitable, awe-ful display. And to me, such a festival of violence gives tacit consent to all the most perverted fantasies of the co
mmunity, including the very desire to see other humans utterly humiliated and obliterated which lay behind the original crime. To me, such a celebration raises the stakes of violence in a society as a whole and is *intimately connected* to violent crime as perpetrated by individuals. It is not separate or above it; it is not an antidote or a closure.
As we know from contemplating the fates of grand architects of suffering, such as Milosevic or Hussein, there is nothing that a society can do to right the historical balance of suffering once it has happened. This is unfortunate - tragic even; but it is true. Suffering and death are facts which transcend the ability of human beings to make amends.
If you call upon the state to right the suffering of history by visiting equivalent suffering upon the perpetrator you are implicitly giving the state a transcendental role in human affairs. You are calling on it as previous eras called upon God to bring destruction and misery upon their enemies. But the state does not have a transcendental claim to power. It has only a pragmatic claim. It can make pragmatic decisions - to remove a violent man from social intercourse, for instance - but it cannot restore a community's innocence, or erase suffering. None of us can expect this from a human institution, and we should never give such an institution the freedom to act as if it had this transcendental power.
I don't think there can be a pragmatic argument for the death penalty. If the death penalty actually reduced the amount of violence in a society then America would be pretty much the most violence-free place in the world (after China and Iran). This is to say nothing of the fact, of course, that sometimes states execute people who are then found to be innocent. In this situation it really is tough for them to make amends.
Let not this discussion be cornered by those who support some idea of retributive justice, and who therefore see the grandest escalation of violence as the most just and humane. I think the Bushian "double blackmail" mentioned by Nisha in the discussion on this list has indeed taken over the debate to an unfortunate degree, and that it has no merit. It is a depressing, even maddening thing to have to accept that there is no total, otherworldly justice for horrendous crimes; but let us not become savage ourselves as a result.
R
Rana Dasgupta
www.ranadasgupta.com
Aarti wrote:
> Dear Rahul and Nisha,
>
> I agree with you completely. Perhaps this is precisely why we now refer
> to 'rape survivors' rather than 'rape victims'. I recall a very
> sensitive, and brave, article written by a rape survivor a few years ago
> that came out in a newspaper published from Calcutta, I forget which.
> She had been raped but in her piece she echoed the sentiments you
> express in your postings- that she was not broken, that this was not the
> worst thing that could happen to a woman, that it was as bad as any
> other horrendous expereince that is sometimes visisted upon us. Phoolan
> Devi's outrage at her portrayal in Bandit Queen related in part to the
> manner in which the film misrepresented her desire to seek vengance from
> her opressors. While some of it related to the sexual assault she
> sufferred, equally important was her anger at the fact that the landlord
> had stolen her land.
>
> Regards,
>
> Aarti
>
>
>
> Asthana, Rahul wrote:
>
>> Nisha, I fully agree with you that there should be more discussion on
>> this,and it is not as simple as black and white. But there is
>> something that we must make distinctions about and separate - for eg.
>> the debate for and against death penalty should not be linked to the
>> tolerance or intolerance of sexual violence against women. If someone
>> is against death penalty for the rapist it should not be construed as
>> fostering male chauvinism of the worst type as you say- "We also told
>> that if you can't do that then stay at home (as if that is a safe
>> place) and kept safe from threats ranging from a load flesh coming on
>> your screen in the next door cyber café to pinching, flashing and
>> verbal sexal assault on the road, in the shops and at public place
>> store. " If such a message is sent out, it is unfortunate.How the
>> seriousness of the crime manifests itself into the seriousness of the
>> punishment, is an issue to be examined. Someone earlier posted that if
>> death penalty becomes the norm in such cases, more people might be let
>> off without any punishment. so, the debate can have other angles as
>> well. Furthermore, this is my personal opinion and I would like to
>> examine it by posting it here, that the heinousness of sexual violence
>> is actually a double whammy against women.Every culture, not just
>> eastern and third world, but western and developed countries too,
>> somehow treat rape as something which is demeaning to the victim
>> herself.There are hoards of examples in our culture. For example - I
>> can rememeber countless scenes from hindi movies when the woman after
>> being raped..says.. "Ab to mai kisi ko muh dikhane ke kabil nahi
>> rahi.." and goes to commit suicide or something.Or another-the term
>> "izzat lootna " How can somebody loot somebody's izzat? If a man is
>> raping a woman, is he surrendering his own izzat or looting hers? Why
>> we tolerate and use such language? I wonder how it came to be this
>> way.Sometimes I feel this is like a big conspiracy which generations
>> of men have perpetrated against women, and we are so steeped in this
>> nonsense that we make it true by believing in it. We are actually
>> making the crime more heinous by believing that it is heinous.I think
>> that the after the victim is raped, besides the obvious physical
>> trauma of rape, she also has to undergo pity of the bechari rape
>> victim and stuff like that. Its not like a car hit you when you are
>> crossing the road and you report the driver to the police.The pity for
>> a rape victim is like "iski to life barbad ho gayi.." and not like
>> "iska haath toot gaya" or something. Again,besides the cultural
>> component, there is one more component of the stupidity against rape
>> victims- male chauvinism .some males feel that if a girl wears
>> "provocative" clothes,she is a party to the crime and she invites
>> rape, which is comeple BS according to me.I wonder what they would
>> feel if they were raped by girls for wearing some tight jeans or stuff
>> like that.So, in campaigning against sexual violence, if we work
>> against the attitudes pertaining to it, so that- a) The victim does
>> not get patronizing ,demeaning and idiotic sympathy and ostracization.
>> b) Her case is judged farily and the blame not apportioned to her
>> for not confirming to some stupid parochial norms .. he ostracizing
>> of victims and the shame they might possibly feel(ironically) for
>> being a victim might possibly change.That might lead to more and more
>> rape cases being reported and rapsits being punished. Thanks and
>> regards Rahul
>> -----Original Message-----
>> *From:* reader-list-bounces at sarai.net
>> [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net]*On Behalf Of *nisha -
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 17, 2004 10:13 AM
>> *To:* reader-list at sarai.net
>> *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] campaigning against death penalty
>>
>>
>> Looking at Chatterjee case, I'm amazed that how easy it is to
>> ignore the political implications of sexual violence. Issues
>> around rape and sexual abuse of various types have caused deep
>> divisions in both anti-violence against women campaigners and
>> human rights campaigners. And it has definitely put those like me
>> who believe in the right to life as well as justice.
>>
>> The dilemma arises from being thrown in a situation where one is
>> supposed to declare either for or against stand in a death penalty
>> case. It doesn't matter if majority of those who are campaigning
>> against death penalty do not see sexual violence (leave alone
>> physical violence) as grave enough to deserve a more serious
>> thought than 'poor man he has already served 14 years in jail' or
>> 'so and so did it, he wasn't given a death penalty'. It doesn't
>> matter if you feel that criminal jusrisprudence must work out a
>> way in which concerns of women's and girls' physical and bodily
>> integrity and safety are given the consideration they deserve. It
>> doesn't matter if you would like to hear a deabte about what kind
>> of laws could make the perpetrator take full responsibility for an
>> act of sexual violence without taking away his life. You are just
>> supposed to take a for or against position in a typical Bush style.
>>
>> The rampantness of sexual violence is acknowledged in so far that
>> its existence is not being denied and work against issues of rape
>> and sexual abuse is considered necessary if not as vital as other
>> social issues. But when it comes to punishing the perpetrators,
>> the message we get is don't make the poor man such a monster. And
>> instead of a debate on legal and public responsibility we are told
>> it is a matter of real life, it just there so learn survival
>> skills and develop the strength to cope with it. We also told that
>> if you can't do that then stay at home (as if that is a safe
>> place) and kept safe from threats ranging from a load flesh coming
>> on your screen in the next door cyber café to pinching, flashing
>> and verbal sexal assault on the road, in the shops and at public
>> place store.
>> It fills me with so much of anger when I think of all the women
>> and girls who are being assualted every second and killed so often
>> and see scant thought going to their right to life and sexual
>> rights. What kind of a campaigning for right to life is this death
>> penaly row, if it is not even willing to see the other side of the
>> violence?
>>
>> Nisha
>>
>> */vishwajyoti ghosh <ghoshvishwajyoti at rediffmail.com>/* wrote:
>>
>>
>> "In my next life, I want to be born as a rich man..."
>> -Dhanonjoy Chatterjee
>> For those of us who feel rapists should be dealt with an extra
>> firm hand...I agree, But will I see:
>> Sanjeev Nanda
>> Salman Khan
>> Sushil Sharma
>> D.P Yadav & his sons
>> (to name only a few)
>> and all the regular rapists of Delhi and adjoining areas
>> walking to the gallows???
>> As a nation, we might have to answer many such cases within
>> ourselves, for times to come. Till then Chatterjee's words
>> wish will continue to be a proven fact, and not a mere wish...
>> Happy Independence Day guys!
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 Sourav wrote :
>> >Regarding the death sentenced, I agree, blood against blood
>> is not a
>> >solution, also we will be killer like him if we hang him. But
>> I don't know
>> >where to appeal and president's emails address, please guide
>> us and we will
>> >send the signatures and mails against hanging.
>> >
>> >Sourav.
>> >
>> >West Bengal.
>> >
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