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Call to end death penalty
Constitutional change proposed
A prominent human-rights organization in Asia has urged a federal constitution review committee to repeal capital punishment in India.
The New Delhi-based South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center (SAHRDC) said that it has presented a 40-page document to the National Commission for the Review of the Working of the Constitution, highlighting the growing demand worldwide for doing away with the death penalty.
“It is increasingly recognized that the death penalty has no place in a democratic and civilized society. As the international community’s consensus against the death penalty grows, India is becoming increasingly isolated in its commitment to the death penalty,” said the SAHRDC statement.
Although the Indian Supreme Court has ruled that the death sentence is to be ordered only in the “rarest of rare cases,” capital punishment is included as a penalty in several laws such as the Indian penal code, national security legislation, and anti-narcotics legislation. SAHRDC executive director Ravi Nair said that the death penalty is “bad in taste and is bad law. It is an offense to human dignity.” It is for the same reason, Nair said, that civil-rights groups have “joined hands with church organizations in demanding abolition of the death penalty.” SAHRDC said that the appointment of a constitutional review committee provided a “golden opportunity” for death-penalty opponents.
Focolare founder honored
Hindu group offers peace prize
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, visited India from December 29 to January 14, making stops in Bombay, Coimbatore, and Calcutta, to promote dialogue between religions. And her efforts—particularly significant in light of the repeated acts of anti-Christian violence by Hindu extremists—earned her the respect of mainstream Hindu groups.
In January, two prestigious Hindu institutions—the Shanti Ashram and the Sarvodaya Movement, which both draw inspiration from the life and teaching of Mahatma Gandhi—named Lubich as the winner of the Defender of Peace Prize for 2001. Previous recipients of the award include Kajitan, a disciple of Gandhi, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
L. Rathanchand Jain, a prominent Hindu intellectual, said: “If we do not come together in unity there can be no salvation for humanity. We must live as authentic human beings and promote universal brotherhood. The present world is living a deep crisis. Only peace and love can save us.” And Sri Krisharaj Vanavarayar, a Hindu cultural leader, said that Lubich “indicates a path for overcoming division and hatred.”
Vanavarayar added, “Today, despite its great pluralist and tolerant cultural and religious heritage, India is faced with social problems, tensions, and divisions, as well as a materialistic mentality devoid of moral values.” He said that Lubich had offered the people of India a glimpse at a loftier spiritual plane, and a more peaceful social life. “This is a meeting of hearts. We join hands to build a world of peace,” Lubich said in her response