Franklin Zimring writes for The Economic and Political Weekly, December 29, 2012
With the pressure to execute Ajmal Kasab now past, perhaps India can proceed with caution towards ending executions, as every democracy in Europe has already done. A formal moratorium on executions can be a tentative first step as has been used extensively by other jurisdictions in their journey towards abolition. Ironically, then, Kasab’s hanging may have removed the country’s best argument for retaining capital punishment.