Monday, May 02, 2005
Monday, May 02, 2005 |
| Kerala | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Kerala
Special Correspondent
`NO' TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: Ramachandran Nair, former police constable who has admitted to have shot dead naxalite leader Varghese, watching a poster exhibition against capital punishment in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Photo: S. Mahinsha
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The poor are the worst victims of capital punishment, says Adoor Gopalakrishnan, whose film Nizhalkuth on capital punishment has won wide acclaim. Inaugurating a day-long convention demanding abolition of capital punishment here on Sunday, Adoor pointed out that while the rich escape the punishment exploiting the loopholes in law, the poor are invariably punished for crimes that are the products of a complex web of factors social, economic and political. "The situation is so bad that it has become a crime to be born poor," Adoor said. Participating in the discussion, journalist and human rights activist B.R.P. Bhaskar said capital punishment is not punishment for a crime, but retribution. He also felt that the media has been largely insensitive to the human rights aspect of capital punishment. This could be due to the lack of effort to sensitise aspiring journalists about issues of human rights by journalism schools and the general tendency among media organisations to conform to the dominant social mores, he said. The CPI(M) central committee member, M.A. Baby, the BJP State general secretary, K. Raman Pillai, the RSP leader, S. Sathyapal, the Plachimada Action Council convener, R. Ajayan, and noted social activist and writer Civic Chandran participated in the symposium on the rights of prisoners held as a prelude to the convention. K. Girish Kumar presented the theme paper at the symposium, which was chaired by K. Venu. The convention was chaired by M. Gangadharan. The former State Human Rights Commission chairperson, S. Balaraman, sex workers Nalini, Jameela, filmmaker K.P. Kumaran, poet Desamangalam Ramakrishnan, writer-activists K.K. Koch, Bhasurendra Babu, Sunny M. Kapikkad, P.A. Powran, K.K. Chandran, N. Subramanian, A. . Rajasree, Reshma Bharadwaj, K.K. Baburaj, M. Sulfat, Dilip Raj, K. Rajmohan, Reskha Raj, T.K. Sunil, among others, spoke. Presenting a paper on the language of capital punishment, V.C. Harris of Mahatma Gandhi University pointed out that while Section 302 of IPC was quite pared down, all discussion on homicides and need for capital punishment by courts are marked by intense emotion and, almost always, the terms used to justify capital punishment are harsh on the accused.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2005, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
