Jalandhar, Punjab (November 20, 2012): Dal Khalsa today strongly criticized Indian government for opposing UN resolution to abolish death penalty, while in practice it has been observing moratorium since the last 8 years.
39 countries including India lost another opportunity to have a death-penalty free world when they voted against a UN resolution, introduced every two years at a UN General Assembly committee calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
Reaffirming its principled stand against death penalty, Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said India had a chance to ink a new chapter in the annals of the United Nations, by practicing its much-touted precept of non-violence but it was ironic that they have chosen the path of violent state reprisal by upholding to retain capital punishment on the statute.
He said it was remarkable that cutting across traditional alliances and grouping of nations based on economic interests, a record number of 110 countries backed the resolution, while India, China, USA and some others have opposed. He said thirty-six countries have abstained.
We believe that India could have made a start by at least joining the countries which had abstained which would have enabled people and civil society to start a fresh debate regarding abolition of death penalty in India and other South-Asian countries that as a block still adhere to the tooth for a tooth theory, reads the statement issued by political party of the Sikhs.
Kanwar Pal Singh further said that, “It is highly disturbing to note that the otherwise pro-active civil society, failed to build pressure on the government of India before the UN vote.”