Debating Capital Punishment in Strangled Democracy of India: Political Economy of Crime and Punishment

The book is a critical engagement with various debates regarding capital punishment with special reference to India. It probes the two broad approaches viz. abolitionist and retentionist through a complex unpacking of the arguments surrounding death penalties awarded to Afzal Guru (Parliament Attack Case) and Dhananjoy Chatterjee (rape and murder) by the Indian State. The book also analyze how along with the State’s ideological apparatuses the corporate media through a complex process of profiling of the accused, presented a dehumanizing ‘profile’ of the accused and the community/communities they belonged to. Media became a potent field in getting the final consensus for the death awardees. The book concludes that an abolitionist position needs to move beyond a moral, humanist or utilitarian approach since they often overlook the systemic inequities which target individuals differently.