THIS refers to The ultimate penalty (July 13).

Religion is a fundamental set of certain beliefs, and prescribe a judicial system according to one sect. Whatever they may be, these divine texts prevail in societies like those of Muslims, Christians and Jews. And almost in all religions there is a concept of capital punishment against rebellious acts, murder, rape, blasphemy etc. This is especially so in an Islamic society of which we are a part of.

Punishment till death is not a matter of an individual whim or extremism by a certain school of thought; it is the ultimate order of God on specific causes. So we cannot change it or modify it like western nations, as was mentioned in the article. I don’t understand that to claim such a “healthy-human-making-society-act” to a “Barbaric-act”, as the author did not include any religious interpretation in his piece, which is not the right way to convince others.

I think that time is not right to do away with the Death Penalty; first an effort should be made for a more effective and rational implementation, and more awareness about its real spirit of cause should be aired to the public. Moreover, there should be open debate on this topic in which non-religious and religious think-tanks must participate, rather than to embrace the Western philosophy of human rights blindly on statically base.

MARATIB IBNE LIAQAT
Lahore