Thirukkural on Punishment

THIRUKKURAL   Punishment.

 Great Thiruvalluvar speaks of the rehabilitation of criminals.

There is a  big controversy regarding the efficacy of  ' Death punishment '( Capital punishment) 

Some say,  the  capital   punishment  should be  imposed to the  brutal killers .

Some say,  it is  ' an eye for an  eye '  -  ' death for those who had caused death to others'.

Some say,  it is essential because,  it discourages other murders.

Some say,  it is cheaper than the  imprisonment for life. 

Supreme court on 13th Sep.2011 had clearly said that the death penalty should  be imposed on heinous and gruesome murderers, such as those relating to honour killing, dowry death, fake encounters and hired killings. ( honour killing = killing those who bring dishonour to the family. )

Some say terrorist who kill innocent people should be mercilessly hanged. 

There are some people to say that the death punishment should not be  imposed to any one. 

According to them , no Government has right to take away the life of any individual.  

They quote what the human right declaration  which  says, " every one has right to life,   liberty and security of person ."

They believe , " Right to  life is the birth right , hence nobody has the  right to take away the life of others ".

Who is correct ?

It is a wonder that Thiruvalluvar speaks of modern  Penology in the kural 561.

Penology is the branch of criminology that deals with prison management and prisoners rehabilitation.

In ancient days capital punishment was commonly imposed by the  kings. Capital punishment is the death penalty ( Capital in Latin is head, removing the head is capital punishment, capital city is where the head of the State/ Government is staying and functioning )

Socrates (469-399 BC ), the great Greek philosopher was accused of impiety ( irreverence towards God ) and given hemlock (poison) to drink as a capital punishment. 

Jesus Christ was sentenced to death by crucifixion by Romans accusing him of blasphemy (disrespecting God ). 

Punishments like flogging ( whipping ), canning etc are  corporal punishments , even to-day  these  punishments  exist in Islamic countries. These are also known as physical chastisement ( inflicting pain in the body ).  From time immemorial punishments  have been given to the law breakers in all societies. In those days crushing the head by using elephants, stoning till death, burning till death ( Joan of Arc ) , etc were  different forms of capital punishments . During the French Revolution Guillotines were used to behead the rich  and  clergy  ( about 40,000 were killed ).

In modern days for executing capital punishment several methods are adopted,  hanging , using  electrical chairs, administering lethal injections, etc.18th century people reacted against the severe punishments. Italian born philosopher Cesare Beccaris (1738 - 1794 AD ) founded the classical school of criminology and expressed many revolutionary thoughts, in his book, "Crimes and Punishments " he condemned tortures to the criminals, argued against death penalty and insisted that the punishment should be in proportion to the gravity of the crime with an aim to rehabilitate the offenders. He is  the father of  'modern criminology.'

As on to-day, nearly  137 countries abolished  the death penalty., India is yet to do it. 

Nathuram Godse who killed Gandhiji were hanged at Ambala in 1949.

Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, killers of Indira Gandhi were hanged in Tihar jail in1988.

Modern concept of punishment is rehabilitation of criminals.
( Rehabilitation = resoring a person in a responsible or useful  position in the society )

Through rehabilitation,  they should be corrected and made good citizens. Even the  death sentence is not to be executed,  if the sentenced is sick or wounded or mentally retarded . Modern thinking is that the accused should be punished only after proper trial,  should be given enough opportunity to defend , the crime should be proved beyond doubt. Moreover,  the punishment appropriate to the  crime committed should be given . It should aim to rehabilitate the  offenders in such a way that they would not commit further crimes.

In some countries there are open jails which function to rehabilitate the prisoners . In fact in many countries the jails are called correctional Institutions.

In India,  the minimum age for criminal responsibility is 7 years, which means a child below that age can not be held responsible for any crime and be punished, this  age differs from country to country, UK 10, Spain 16, etc.

Juvenile offenders ( below 18 years ) are sent to correctional homes or reformatory  schools. Education and vocational trainings are given in the correctional institutions (previously these were called- Remand houses )

Thiruvalluvar in the kural 561 says exactly what the modern thinkers say on punishment.

Proper enquiry should be made on the charges. 

Only  if found guilty, the punishment  should be given, that too appropriate to the crime committed. 

The punishment should aim to rehabilitate the criminals such that  they will not commit the crimes again. 

What the western philosophers  like Cesare Baccaria , Jeremy Bentham , John Howard had advocated  in the 18th century on ' punishment ', Thiruvalluvar had enshrined   in  the  kural 561 . 

To-day punishment given is not to take a  revenge on the offenders but to correct and rehabilitate  and make them better citizens.

After a trail per law , appropriate punishment should be given such that,

Offenders will not  commit the crimes again. ( kural 561 )

Punishment should be given for correcting the criminals, not to take vengeance on them. So the aim of punishment is deterrence,  which means,  preventing the occurrence of crimes .

In simple terms the kural  561-

Punishments given should aim to correct the law breakers.

When it is said that the punishment should aim to correct the offenders, question of death punishment does not arise.

It means, offenders should not be killed, they should be corrected or reformed.

That is the reason why more than 100 countries of the world had abolished capital punishment .

When majority countries had abolished capital punishment, why the birth land  of Buddha and Gandhi should  still have it ?

It is a wonder that Thiruvalluvar had  postulated  this thinking 2000 years ago. 

He wanted that the offenders should be corrected.

It is what the 18th century philosophers of  the west  had advocated just 300 years ago. 

Kural in Tamil-

தக்காங்கு நாடித் தலைச்செல்லா வண்ணத்தால்

ஒத்தாங்கு ஒறுப்பது வேந்து. (561)

தக்காங்கு நாடி =  குற்றத்தைச் சரியாக ஆய்ந்து

தலைச்செல்லா வண்ணத்தால் = மீண்டும் செய்யாதபடி

ஒத்தாங்கு ஒறுப்பது வேந்து = குற்றத்திற்கு ஏற்ப தண்டனை தருவதே அரசு . 

குற்றத்தைச் சரியாக ஆய்ந்து, மீண்டும் செய்யாதபடி,( deterrence = preventing occurrence )

குற்றத்திற்கு ஏற்ப தண்டனை ( punishment that correlates with the gravity of the crime ) தருவதே அரசு .

===================================================================================By M S Vincent. 1 Oct 2011