Death, a penalty considered by most nations today as a cruel and degrading punishment, has been abolished de jure or de facto by one hundred and six nations. Thirty countries have abolished it since 1990 alone. However, death sentences continue to be commonly employed in other nations. India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States and Iran are the most prolific executioners in the world. After a five-year moratorium from 1972 to 1977, capital punishment was reinstated in the United States.

Still not against customary international law, the application of death penalty is the subject of much debate worldwide as to whether it constitutes an appropriate punishment, at least for the most heinous crimes. Death is irrevocable and innocents have been sentenced in the past. Worse, according to Amnesty International, "[The death sentence] has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments" and such sentencing may occur in vain.

While there are various perspectives on this form of punishment, Sikhi has supported such punishment in the rarest of occasions, although the faith does not take an unequivocal position on its implementation. Often, Sikhs become victims of conformism and misrepresent Sikh doctrine on such sensitive issues where world opinion is clearly against the death penalty. Debate needs to be encouraged on this issue so that, as a community, we are able to effectively and correctly articulate the Sikh position on capital punishment.

A comparatively young religion based on a definitive revelation, Sikhi places great emphasis on humanitarianism. Human life is precious - it being the only opportunity for self-realization. Our actions lead us to rewards or punishments that we must enjoy or endure. Creation is a manifestation of God - who is both, transcendent and immanent and has accorded free will to all human beings. Individuals reap what they sow in the field of karma, declares the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture. [1]

Since this world is real and not an illusion, individuals must only sow things that would bring good results, else they would suffer according to the cosmic law of karma regulating them. This, however, does not mean that there is no need for other laws to hold persons accountable for their actions, such as those devised by the State. At the same time oppressive states like India continue to exact punishment on the innocent, as in the case of Devender Pal Singh, a matter of grave concern to all Sikhs.

The doctrines that the Sikh Gurus enunciated were demonstrated by example in relation to individual and contingent situations throughout the course of Sikh history. For instance, in 1710 the Sikh principles were applied to the practical task of setting up a sovereign Sikh state by Banda Singh Bahadur. Even though they had repeatedly faced genocide, it was rarely that the Sikhs employed the death penalty as a state policy.

Successive secular states established by the Sikhs practiced and demonstrated the Sikh ideal of using political power as an instrument for revolutionary social change. The most remarkable example is the Sikh hegemony, in 1801, after the establishment of the Sarkar-i-Khalsa, the Khalsa Commonwealth, which included the Sikh homeland - the Punjab, along with today's parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Little Tibet and Kashmir.

Guided by ethics and principles enshrined in the Sikh scripture, the Sikhs created a secular state, which formally abolished the death penalty. The rationale is not a belief in ahimsa or non-violence, both of which are repugnant to the Sikh doctrine that promotes use of force as a last resort for self-defense. [2] While reporting on the abolishment of the death penalty in the Khalsa Commonwealth, writers projecting ahimsa and non-violence often omit that punishments such as dismemberment for stealing and other offenses were reported as having been endorsed by the Sikh state.

At the time of Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Nanak, the Sikhs publicly executed upper caste Hindu, Chandu Shah, who was responsible for the martyrdom of Guru Arjan, the Fifth Nanak. Sikhs are not the only people to have supported capital punishment in numerous occasions in the past. Other religious groups and peoples who are against death penalty today have little ideological basis to support its abolishment.

In the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law specifies no less than thirty-six capital offenses calling for execution by stoning, burning, decapitation, or strangulation. Included in the list of offenses are idolatry, magic, blasphemy, violation of the Sabbath, murder, adultery, bestiality, pederasty, and incest. The death penalty was considered especially fitting as a punishment for murder since, in his covenant with Noah, God had laid down the principle, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image" (Genesis 9:6).

In many cases God is portrayed as deservedly punishing culprits with death, as happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16). In other cases individuals such as Daniel and Mordecai are God's agents in bringing a just death upon guilty persons.

In the New Testament, the right of the State to put criminals to death seems to be taken for granted. Jesus himself refrains from using violence. He rebukes his disciples for wishing to call down fire from heaven to punish the Samaritans for their lack of hospitality (Luke 9:55). Later he admonishes Peter to put his sword in the scabbard rather than resist arrest (Matthew 26:52). At no point, however, does Jesus deny that the State has authority to exact capital punishment.

In his debates with the Pharisees, Jesus cites, with approval, the apparently harsh commandment, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die" (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10, referring to Exodus 2l:17; cf. Leviticus 20:9).

When Pilate calls attention to his authority to crucify him, Jesus points out that Pilate's power comes to him from above-that is to say, from God (John 19:11). Jesus commends the good thief on the cross next to him, who has admitted that he and his fellow thief are receiving the due reward of their deeds (Luke 23:41).

To answer the objection that the first commandment forbids killing, St. Augustine writes in The City of God:

"The same divine law, which forbids the killing of a human being, allows certain exceptions, as when God authorizes killing by a general law or when He gives an explicit commission to an individual for a limited time. Since the agent of authority is but a sword in the hand, and is not responsible for the killing, it is in no way contrary to the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" to wage war at God's bidding, or for the representatives of the State's authority to put criminals to death, according to law or the rule of rational justice."

Many in the interfaith community, especially Jews and Christians, who are today denouncing the death penalty, are doing so not on the basis on their religious doctrines. Hopefully, the Sikhs will not make the same mistake.

The fact that Sikhs have employed the death penalty in the past provides enough reason to exercise caution while engaging in debate on this important issue. The Sikhs, as a people, must form consensus on capital punishment before we provide a "Sikh" opinion to the world community.

1. "jeha bijai so lunai karma sandra khet" -- Baramaha, SGGS, p. 134
2. The last Sikh prophet, Guru Gobind Singh, wrote to the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, "When all peaceful means fail to resolve a conflict, the sword becomes a lawful imperative for a person of religion. - Zafarnamah